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Gary N. Ervin |
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Plant Ecology Lab |
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Academic Information |
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My Courses in Biological Sciences
Plant Ecology (BIO 4213/6213) Aquatic Botany (BIO 4224/6224) Invasion Ecology (BIO 8163)
MSU Environmental Sciences Certificate/Minor Program
Pursuing Graduate Studies in the Ervin Lab
Candidates for graduate studies in my lab typically would be those who have performed well on the GRE general exam (percentile scores of 75 or higher), who have actual research experience (i.e., have conducted at least one independent study), who have demonstrable skills currently in use in our research group, and who are comfortable with both written and oral scientific communication.
Students who have the greatest success in their efforts at entry to graduate studies (at MS State or elsewhere), will have done their homework and will have initiated contact with potential major professors.
Doing your homework - Have a look through potential major professors' web pages and publication records. Students who fit squarely in the midst of what a professor is currently doing will - usually - have a much better chance at admission than those with tangential interests.
Also, if you are fortunate enough to run across potential major professors at scientific conferences, this is a great time to visit in person about your interests in graduate studies. But please do your homework before the initial meeting.
Initiating contact - The initial contact with a potential major professor should answer five basic questions: Who are you, What are your interests and background, Where have you studied, When did or will you graduate or When are you interested in beginning graduate studies, and Why are you writing me? The answers to these questions will indicate that you have given some thought to what you are doing and that you actually have a reason to inquire about graduate studies in the potential professor's laboratory.
What should students expect?
Students in my lab usually are given a considerable degree of flexibility in the design and execution of their thesis or dissertation projects. The freedom in selecting a topic of study varies to some extent depending on the student and the project on which they are supported, but I try to be fairly hands-off in design and execution. Students are expected to submit each completed project for publication in a peer-reviewed scientific journal, and the first submission of each chapter is expected to occur before defense of the thesis or dissertation. Publication is an extremely important aspect of doing science, particularly for science funded by public dollars. Thus far, my former graduate students have authored or co-authored an average of about six peer-reviewed papers each. The actual numbers range from 3 to 13, with various combinations of multi-authored papers and even some on which I am not an author.
Because of the emphasis placed on publication, students in my lab also should expect to work very hard on projects of importance. This will require determining an appropriately important question and the proper methods for answering it. Students also should expect to write - a lot - and to expect unbridled criticism of that writing.
Because it is impossible to do good science without at least some money, most of the work in my lab is funded through external grants. These grants have time restrictions and reporting deadlines, which require constant progress to be made and sometimes require detailed reporting with short notification. Thus, students should expect to be relied upon to provide data and analyses when needed and to do so in a timely manner.
Finally, my time is in high demand for numerous reasons. These involve considerable committee service around the University, my service in the Department as Graduate Coordinator, teaching, mentoring of Assistant Professors working towards tenure, time required for fulfilling grant obligations, and mentoring of other graduate students. Thus, students in my lab also should expect to work very independently towards completion of their theses or dissertations and to let me know when they have questions or need additional assistance. I try to maintain mental records of where each student is in his/her program, but students who have difficulty with self-motivation and/or are timid about asking for help may find themselves taking longer than desired to complete their degrees - or worse, they may become victims of attrition through inactivity.
Additional information about graduate studies in the Department of Biological Sciences may be found here. |
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Department of Biological Sciences PO Box GY 114 Harned Hall, 295 Lee Blvd Mississippi State, MS 39762 662-325-1203 gervin <at> biology . msstate . edu |
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Contact info |
