M.S. Graduate Assistantship
Carbon Sequestration-Managed Forests
The School of Forest Resources, University of Arkansas at Monticello and the Louisiana State University AgCenter seeks candidates for a half time M.S. assistantship. The assistantship can begin in either the spring or summer of 2008 and carries a stipend of $17,400. The student will be housed at UAM School of Forest Resources (SFR) while working on a joint LSU AgCenter/UAM SFR project.
Project: The successful candidate will work on a long-term project investigating carbon sequestration and nitrogen dynamics in response to litter removal and nutrient amendment in loblolly pine stands managed for both timber and pine straw production. The study will be used to determine the impact of pine straw harvesting with and without nutrient amendment on 1) soil and aboveground carbon accumulation in and 2) soil and forest sustainability of managed loblolly pine stands. The graduate student’s project will add to previous work on soil compaction, soil moisture regimes, and microbial biomass that has occurred at the research sites. Field work will occur at the LSU AgCenter Calhoun Research Station in Calhoun, LA, and lab work will occur at the UAM School of Forest Resources in Monticello, AR. The student will be housed at the University of Arkansas at Monticello. Full-time LSU AgCenter staff and part-time undergraduate research assistants will assist the graduate research assistant in field and laboratory work. The individual selected for the assistantship will also work with ongoing LSU AgCenter extension and outreach activities associated with this project.
Requirements: A 2.7 overall undergraduate GPA or 3.0 GPA in the last 60 semester hours of undergraduate courses and satisfactory GRE scores (verbal+quanitative >1000). International applicants need a minimum TOEFL score of 550 (paper) or 213 (computer) with minimum section scores of 55 (paper) or 21 (computer). A B.S. degree in environmental science, biology, soils, forestry or a related field is also required.
Research Facilities: The UAM-SFR houses several laboratories that can be utilized by graduate students. These include the Water Quality, Spatial Analysis, and Graduate Student Laboratories. All laboratories are well equipped and utilized for research and instructional activities on a daily basis by students and faculty alike.
Application and Additional Information:
The Research Project: contact-Dr. Michael Blazier
Assistant Professor, Forestry Research Project Leader Hill Farm Research Station
Louisiana State University Agriculture Center 11959 Highway 9 Homer, LA 71040
Phone: (318) 927-2578
Email: mblazier@agcenter.lsu.edu
UAM MS. Graduate Program: contact-Dr. Hal O. Liechty
Professor, School of Forest Resources UAM
PO Box 3468
Monticello, AR 71656
Phone: (870) 460-1452
Email: liechty@uamont.edu
