Student Opportunites

Applications are invited from individuals wishing to pursue M.S. or Ph.D. degree programs in a variety of aspects of hydro/environmental geology at the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Graduate teaching assistantships (GTA’s) and research assistantships (GRA’s) are often available for qualified students. Most students enter the program as GTA’s and then, if funding is available, are moved to GRA’s or combined GTA/GRA stipends as their research proceeds. Stipend packages include tuition and medical coverage and are competitive with those offered by peer institutions. They can often be supplemented through “toppings” from the supervisor’s research grants or from various university fellowship programs.
We’re looking for students in a variety of areas, including:

• pathogens in groundwater and surface water
• contaminant hydrogeology
• saprolite hydrology and pore structure
• vadose zone processes
• modeling pore space geometry using fractals & percolation theory
• near-surface and environmental geophysics
• tracing organic matter in soils through stable isotope geochemistry
• environmental geochemistry
• geomicrobiology

The hydro-environmental group at UT is very multi-disciplinary, with almost half of our students over the past decade having Bachelors degrees in fields other than geology. These include students with backgrounds in microbiology, soil science, agricultural engineering, environmental science and other disciplines. All incoming students (geologists and non-geologists) meet with a faculty committee shortly after arrival to determine if any additional undergraduate coursework is required to pursue their desired research. There are no set pre-requisites.  

Prospective graduate students should apply to the University of Tennessee, Graduate School and the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences. Application forms and information are available through the Earth and Planetary Sciences Graduate Student web page. Additional information can be obtained by contacting any of the faculty members of the Hydrogeology and Environmental Geology research group, which includes Drs. Larry McKay, Ed Perfect, Greg Baker and David Finkelstein.

Contact Information

Dr. Larry McKay
Jones Professor of Hydrogeology
Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences
The University of Tennessee
Knoxville, TN 37996-1410

Phone: (865) 974-0821
Fax: (865) 974-2368
Email: lmckay@utk.edu