Why Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
at the University of Kansas?

Our Academic Program

There is a faculty-wide commitment within the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (EEB) at the University of Kansas to provide innovative research opportunities for creative, motivated, and dedicated graduate students.

One of the unique strengths of KU-EEB is that many faculty hold joint appointments with the Biodiversity Institute or the Kansas Biological Survey, research units on the KU campus that support significant and diverse research programs. This environment promotes collaboration across fields and disciplines to help prepare graduate students for the competitive world of interdisciplinary scientific research.

The extramural funding level of faculty within EEB provides graduate students with the resources needed to effectively address a broad range of research questions.

EEB provides a funding package, with ten semesters of support for each Ph.D. student admitted and four semesters for each M.A. student. In addition to a salary averaging $18,000 for the academic year, students are typically provided with full tuition sponsorship.

EEB provides funding for students to travel to professional meetings to present the results of their research.

EEB and closely related departments provide a wide range of excellent course offerings. Graduate students can work with their committee members to tailor their course selection to their specific research focus. Students are offered additional professional preparation through graduate-level skill set courses that cover proposal preparation, professional development, scientific writing, scientific illustration, and a host of special seminars.

Graduate students are encouraged to write and apply for extramural funding, an experience that will prepare them for life as a professional.

EEB graduate students have access to excellent research facilities.

Our seminar series includes presentations by leading researchers in many disciplines, and there is ample opportunity for graduate students to meet our invited guests for discussions and networking.

EEB’s graduate students have an opportunity to learn teaching skills at all levels, including the graduate level, through KU’s Center for Teaching Excellence.

KU's Graduate Writing Program (GWP) offers courses and workshops to help graduate students produce their best scholarly and creative work, to participate more fully in their academic and professional communities, and to successfully complete their degrees. GWP instruction is available on the following topics: thesis and dissertation writing, grant proposals, literature reviews, publications, conference presentations, and defense presentations.

Our Record of Success

The Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at KU has a long history of preparing some of the best scientists in the world for their careers. Notable graduates include Dr. Paul R. Ehrlich (Ph.D. 1957; Bing Professor of Population Studies, and President, Center for Conservation Biology, Stanford University); Dr. Pamela S. Soltis (Ph.D. 1986; Curator, Laboratory of Molecular Systematic Evolutionary Genetics, University of Florida); Dr. David Hillis (Ph.D. 1985; Alfred W. Roark Centennial Professor, Section of Integrative Biology and Center for Computational Biology and Informatics, University of Texas at Austin); Dr. Darrel Frost (Ph.D. 1988; Associate Dean of Science and Associate Curator of Herpetology, American Museum of Natural History). EEB faculty, post-docs, and graduate students actively participate in studying ecology and evolutionary biology around the globe in such places as Antarctica, Latin America, Southeast Asia, South Africa, and the Canary Islands.

EEB graduate students receive prestigious and competitive awards. Eleven of our current students have received NSF Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grants. Four are Madison and Lila Self Graduate Fellows, and seven are trainees in the C-CHANGE IGERT program. Other awards received by KU-EEB graduate students include the NSF GK-12 Fellowship, Mexican CONACYT Fellowship, Smithsonian Institution Predoctoral Fellowship, Foreign Language Area Scholarship, NSF East Asia-Pacific Summer Institutes Fellowship, KU Graduate Studies Diversity Fellowship, and the Fulbright Grant.

Successful graduate students in EEB publish their work in top-tier, peer-reviewed journals.

Our graduates are employed by the academy, industry, and government upon graduation and beyond.

Our Expectations of Graduate Students

We expect EEB graduate students to be among the best in their field, using the resources described above. Specifically, we expect graduate students to... develop an innovative research thesis under the supervision of their faculty mentor(s) write and submit grant proposals, both large- and small-scale, to aid in funding their research present their research findings at regional, national, and international meetings publish research papers based on their work exhibit motivation and passion for doing science, along with the work ethic and organizational skills to meet professional goals develop the emerging frontiers in their disciplines

Importantly, we want our students to have vision beyond their degree—to ask the next, most exciting questions in the discipline, to be risk-takers in their research pursuits, and to become leaders in the field.

Life in Lawrence and at KU

Lawrence, Kansas is a terrific place to live, with a vibrant downtown, fantastic restaurants, lively arts scene, and beautiful rural scenery, and the KU campus is an exciting, beautiful, invigorating environment. Recently, Lawrence was ranked ninth on the American Institute for Economic Research's list of best college towns (full story here). See our Frequently Asked Questions webpage for more details.