I thank you for your interest in the Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Environmental Biology's (E3B) graduate program in Environmental Biology and in possibly working with me.   At present, I am accepting both PhD and MA students.

As you know if you’ve read some of the other pages on this site, my research interests revolve around how anthropogenic influences have altered native biodiversity. I am particularly interested in knowing how linear obstructions (roads, dispersal corridors, trails, power lines, etc.) and introduced species either help or hinder the retention of these native species.  I am primarily interested in projects that have an obvious utility for conservation managers.

If you have not already read those pages on this site, please read through my current research projects and see whether there are some that could be of interest to you or that you could use as starting points for designing one of your own that is somewhat similar to them.

For MA students, I prefer that most students work on a project close to one of my active projects. This is largely because of the brevity of the course of study in the E3B MA program. You have only two years to conceive, develop, implement, analyze, write up, and defend an entire thesis.This is in addition to the already daunting number of courses that you also need to take.

I also think that it is vitally important that students have funding for research BEFORE you would show up on campus.  To that end, you should have an idea of a research project already in mind prior to writing your application. We will use this to apply for grant money from funding agencies once you have been accepted to the E3B MA program but before you arrive on campus. Thus far, we’ve been pretty fortunate in securing this and I hope to continue this incipient streak.

I will also gladly talk with PhD students about interests that do not directly build upon my own work, but it should be within the realm of my experience. Your advisor should know something about the theories that you will be addressing so that they can better guide your progress. It is also in your best interest to make certain that your interests closely overlap with those of your advisor.

I expect a great deal of my graduate students – and as a consequence I prefer to work closely with students when they are first starting on your projects, tapering my involvement when they have demonstrated proficiency. I don't like to work with those who are not serious. At the same time I will help my students as much as I can to excel at their work now and in the future.

I would be glad to talk or meet with you further if you are interested, but please give ample thought and research effort to planning a possible thesis topic before contacting me.

If you are in NYC, or plan to be sometime soon, let's get together then.  If not, I'd be happy to talk further over the phone.

Best to you and thanks for your interest.

Dr. James A. Danoff-Burg
Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Environmental Biology
Columbia University
1200 Amsterdam Ave, MC 5557
New York, NY, 10027