My undergraduate advisor from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Ginny McConnell*, (GO 'TRIEVERS!) asked me to advertise a new multidisciplinary PhD in "Water in the Urban Environment" on the blog. Being a devoted academic offspring, here it is. Thanks, Ginny--I hope I don't embarrass your good name too much:
UMBC has an NSF-sponsored multidisciplinary Ph.D. program in "Water in the Urban Environment." This is one of NSF's prestigious Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT) programs that is designed to support the establishment of innovative approaches to graduate education. Solutions to complex problems associated with the effect of urbanization on the water cycle require integrated ecological, economic and engineering approaches, as well as innovations in policy-making. This program will train a generation of PhD students who understand these linkages and are prepared to work in multidisciplinary teams to improve understanding and management of urban environmental systems. The program is centered on three interwoven themes: (1) urban hydrology and contaminant transport; (2) urban biogeochemical cycles, aquatic ecosystems, and human health; and (3) urban water policy, management, and institutions.
Trainees earn PhD in one of nine participating departments or programs: (1) Biological Science; (2) Chemistry and Biochemistry; (3) Civil and Environmental Engineering; (4) Geography and Environmental Systems; (5) Information Systems; (6) Marine, Estuarine and Environmental Science (MEES); (7) Mathematics and Statistics; (8) Public Policy (including Economic Policy); and (9) Physics. The IGERT Traineeship provides a $30,000 stipend per year plus $10,500 toward cost of education tuition, fees, health insurance and other benefits). Assuming satisfactory progress, IGERT Trainees are funded for two years; teaching and research assistantships provide additional years of support, at departmental funding levels.
*And just to show you I'm not above using family ties to advance my own career, Ginny's husband (Ted) was my PhD advisor at the University of Maryland. So anything really stupid I say can be traced back...nevermind, I can't throw Ted and Ginny under the bus, they've done too much for me.
