Join LotE Lab
I have joined the Department of Geological Sciences at the University of Florida. Although I am not looking for graduate students in the 2022 academic cycle, I welcome you to look at the opportunities and resources here at UF. The University of Florida Department of Geological Sciences offers a graduate program for MSc and PhD students. If you have interests in the geobiology and geochemistry of Mars and outer planets analog studies (acid and alkaline rock drainage, early Earth biosphere, Atacama low water:rock environments, etc.) I welcome you to contact me: amywilliams1 “at” ufl.edu.
Applying to UF
The UF Admissions web page provides information on UF requirements and procedures, and has a link to the admission forms. You can apply online or by mail. An application must be submitted online to the University of Florida Graduate School AND an application packet containing the information in the checklist below must be mailed to the Department of Geological Sciences.
I recommend checking out the department’s website and application checklist here. In the application, check all of the TA and RA/ fellowship boxes so you can be considered for TAs as well as department fellowships.
UF requires proficiency in spoken and written English and accepts the results of the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) the Michigan English Language Assessment Battery (MELAB) or the International English Language Testing System (IELTS). The university’s TOEFL code is 5812. There are other requirements regarding transcripts and other documentation for international students, so look at that information on the UF Graduate School’s website.
The Graduate School Checklist
In preparing to choose a graduate school for both my M.S. and Ph.D., I consulted a rather helpful document that I stumbled across in undergrad. This document contained a list of questions that you may or may not think of to ask potential advisers and their students. Since my undergrad days, that checklist has disappeared from the realm of Google searches. What follows below is my attempt to reconstruct and improve upon it with contributions from my experiences and that of other graduate students I have met along the way.
To ask the potential adviser and their graduate students (I recommend not asking them these questions in the same room at the same time…)
1) Are you a hands-on or hands-off adviser?
(Be honest with yourself. If you know you’ll want guidance and a helping hand, don’t choose an adviser who is a self-proclaimed hands-off adviser.)
2) Is there enough money to support me through my degree?
(Generally, students are completely funded in the hard sciences, either as a teaching assistant (TA), research assistant (RA or GSR), or fellowship. Think twice if you will need to take out student loans to fund your graduate career. In general, M.S. students receive 2 years support, Ph.D. students, 4 years.)
3) Are you going on sabbatical any time soon?
(Make sure you have a defined plan for getting your research done if your adviser plans to be gone on sabbatical for the more important years of your degree.)
4) Is there graduate student insurance?
(Most schools offer this as part of the package. Ask explicitly if you will have additional needs, as some schools don’t offer vision or dental without an extra cost.)
5) How much is the 9-month stipend?
(It’s your money! Ask how much you’ll get paid!!)
6) Do you have money to support me in the summer?
(Many advisers can support you in the summer. Many others cannot. Know what will be expected of you. Many students take on paid summer internships to make money in the summer, which can help float you through the grad student lifestyle, but may set you back in graduation if you cannot get your research done.)
7) What is the typical timeline for your students to finish? [Do they finish on time?]
(If all of your potential adviser’s students are graduating in 7 years, think twice about how long you want to spend in grad school.)
8) How many publications do you expect from me?
(Some programs require at least 1 peer-reviewed publication from a Ph.D. student, with varying requirements for M.S. students.)
MD Employment Opportunities
A throwback to the Towson program: Graduates of the Towson Geosciences and Environmental Science programs have had great success with employment with local, regional, and national entities. Below is a very incomplete list of previous TU graduate employers. For summer internship opportunities prior to graduation, make sure to check the State of MD job openings. Also check out the employment postings on the TU Geoscience website.
State of Maryland : check the Dept. of Natural Resources and MD Dept. of the Environment for geoscience-specific opportunities.
Maryland Environmental Service
BayLand Consultants and Designers, Inc.
SaLUT Environmental Consulting
Graduate Program Details for Grad Students
The department’s graduate student handbook is here.
Very helpful department information:
How to reclassify to FL resident for tuition purposes is here.
Research and Travel Funding Sources are here.
Final Semester Instructions are here. This includes defense preparation, thesis and dissertation preparation and submission, and commencement.
Very helpful UF Graduate School information:
UF Graduation, Dissertation and Thesis Checklists are here.
Graduate school deadlines are here.
Dissertation and thesis editorial deadlines are here and guidance on the writing and formatting of these documents is here.