Welcome and thank for your
interest in my research program.
My website should have given
you a good idea of the specific research questions I work on. The purpose of this letter is to give you
some additional information on my general approach to science and to advising
that might help you to decide if you would enjoy working with me.
I believe that graduate
students should have a lot of latitude in selecting research questions. A successful research project will require
very hard work in many areas, from tracking down funding, to collecting data,
to learning and applying the analytical methods for interpreting those data, to
reworking a manuscript until it is just right.
I believe that this effort is possible and worthwhile only when you are
going after a question that is personally compelling. The catch is that neither I nor anyone else
can tell you what that question is. What
I can and will do is to work with you to evaluate and refine potential topics
and approaches, and to find those resources (e.g., literature, methods, people)
that, in combination with your own creativity, will let you identify your
question. The limited time frame of the
MS may require that I be more involved in the question-development process with
these students than with PhD students.
As implied above, I have no expectations
regarding the system a student chooses to work on or the research methods
used. So far, my research has focused on
stream systems. This doesn’t mean that
you need to work in streams. I am far
more interested in seeing a student go after a challenging question with
enthusiasm and diligence than I am in working with students whose interests are
identical to mine. That said, some
degree of overlap in our basic interests is necessary for me to be an effective
advisor. My basic interests include (1)
the evolutionary drivers and population-level implications of dispersal, (2)
community ecology in human-impacted systems, and (3) the contemporary
ecological consequences of species phylogeny.
If these interests overlap with yours, then, in combination with faculty
in the Division of
Biological Sciences and Wildlife Biology
with similar basic interests and experience in diverse systems, we can
certainly work out an advising team with the knowledge that you will need for a
successful project.
In addition to being
self-motivated and hard working, I expect students to want to be excellent
communicators. I believe that there are
three skills that are critical to meeting this objective: (1) an ability to
translate research ideas and results into a written form that is clear,
engaging, and concise (e.g., for proposals and manuscripts), (2) an ability to
present research questions and results orally in a way that is clear, engaging,
and concise (e.g., for your proposal defense or presentations at professional
meetings), and (3) an ability to discuss research ideas, methods, and
interpretation with me and other colleagues, collaborators, and advisors in a
productive manner. If you work with me,
you will have many opportunities to develop these skills and you will receive
constructive criticism in all of these areas.
Science exists in a social context, so proficiencies in communicating your
science to others and seeking out, filtering, then applying the advice you get
from others are fundamental to the process.
If you see these elements as secondary to the “actual” research, then we
may not be a good match.
I hope this information is useful
to you as you consider options for graduate work. Please feel free to contact me for
clarification on anything here or in the rest of the website. If you are interested in working with me,
then please send me an e-mail describing your research interests and
experience. Also be sure to tell me when
you are looking to start graduate school and your degree objective (i.e., MS or
PhD). From there we can arrange a time
to talk on the phone.
Winsor