We are seeking a Ph.D. student to start in Fall of 2025 in the School of Freshwater Sciences at the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee. The position offers 4 years of guaranteed funding. The research project will focus on the formation of methylmercury at key entry points to aquatic food webs in the Great Lakes, with a specific emphasis on Lake Michigan. The successful student is expected to engage in the following:

1. Field work, including some multiday efforts on large research vessels.
2. Analytical chemistry for mercury analysis and other water quality parameters.
3. Design and execution of microcosm assays.
4. Advanced microbial methods, metagenomic sequencing, and bioinformatics.
5. Collaborations with other lab members and federal scientists, especially from the U.S. Geological Survey.
6. Supervising and mentoring undergraduates.
7. Scientific communication and writing at multiple levels, including writing manuscripts, contributing to grants, presenting at conferences, and contributing to outreach events.
8. Respectful treatment and support of all fellow lab members.

Required qualifications:

• Interest in contaminant biogeochemistry.
• Willing to conduct intensive field work on ships in the Great Lakes ecosystem.
• Background (academic or employment) in chemistry, microbiology, limnology, and/or environmental science.
• Willingness to work respectfully in an interdisciplinary and diverse team.
• Strong organizational skills.
• A commitment to responsible and ethical environmental research.

Additional preferred skills:

• Field experience collecting water or terrestrial samples for scientific research.
• Laboratory experience with analytical chemistry or microbiology methods.
• Experience with bioinformatics methods, Python, and/or R.
• Experience in managing, visualizing, and analyzing data.
• Scientific writing experience.

See petersonlab.org for more details about the lab. For details on the Ph.D. program in the School of Freshwater Sciences, see here: https://uwm.edu/freshwater/academics/freshwater-sciences-doctoral/. If you are interested in the position, please contact Dr. Peterson at petersob@uwm.edu with your CV and a short description of your research interests and how they relate to the lab objectives. Applications for the graduate program will be due January 31^st, 2025.