Be part of the new era!! The Specht Lab moved to Cornell in 2017 and we are looking for graduate students and postdocs to join us in our study of plant biodiversity.
Prospective Graduate Students:
Graduate students interested in joining our lab should apply to the Field of Plant Biology at Cornell, School of Integrative Plant Sciences (SIPS), College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS). You can select a Research Concentration, and view the basic curriculum. In addition, SIPS has a strong and active Graduate Council to ensure that the needs and goals of graduate students are addressed, in the classroom, field or lab.
Students in the Specht Lab often augment their Plant Biology coursework and teaching with classes and seminars offered in the Graduate Field of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. This includes the Florida Field Course and participation in the Non-Model Genomics Journal Club, among other exciting opportunities. EEB also has some great resources, on campus and more broadly, for students studying Evolutionary Biology including seminars, sources of funding, and best practices for engaging in field work.
The Specht Lab is also an active participant in Diversity Preview Weekend to recruit and retain diverse students in our graduate programs at Cornell and in academia more broadly. Here are some specific ways we work together to build an environment in which you will thrive!
– Expectations for Graduate Students
-Tips for a Productive Lab Meeting (also valid for research presentations)
–Resources from the Graduate School (an extensive list of offerings, from mental wellness to dissertation support to career development opportunities)
–Graduate School Signature Initiatives for Inclusive Excellence
– Graduate School philosophy and resources on Mentoring
Please contact Dr. Chelsea Specht to discuss opportunities and our lab’s philosophy for graduate education, which follows the principles of Cornell’s Faculty Advancing Inclusive Mentoring (FAIM) program.
FAIM is a collaboration of the Graduate School and the Provost’s Office of Faculty Development and Diversity and provides a framework to support faculty in developing and advancing mentee-centered and equity-minded mentoring practices within graduate education and the professoriate. This framework is comprised of an inclusive mentoring philosophy and key principles and includes core mutual expectations for faculty mentors and graduate student mentees, a Practical Toolkit for Mentoring in Graduate Education, and mentor and mentee workshops and learning opportunities.
Prospective PostDoctoral Fellows:
Interested postdoctoral fellows are encouraged to write to me and discuss opportunities. If you already have funding, great!!! If you are interested in working with me to secure funding and collaborate, thats great too. I enjoy working with recent graduates to realize their independent research dreams as postdoctoral scholars. Some opportunities available through Cornell are the Cornell University Presidential Postdoctoral Fellows and others are listed on the Office of Sponsored Projects website. Cornell has amazing support for postdoctoral fellows, from career advice to family and work-life balance issues. Housed in the Office for Postdoctoral Studies, they provide a strong community of scholars and also support postdocs (and their family or partners) with information about benefits, career opportunities, and mentorship possibilities across campus.