Departmental Unit № 1
Department of Geography
PhD in Geography
100% Full Funding Guaranteed (5 Years)
Funding Package: Full tuition remission + 10-month TA/GA stipend (~$35,000–$38,000/yr) + comprehensive state healthcare package guaranteed for 5 years.
Fall Priority Deadline: December 15 (Fall Priority)
GRE Policy: Not required / Waived
English Minimums: TOEFL iBT 83 or IELTS 7.0
MA / MS in Geography
Merit TA Funding Eligible (PhD Strongly Prioritized for Guarantees)
Funding Reality: Department funds some MA/MS students via TA lines, but PhD gets first multi-year guarantee.
Application Deadline: December 15
Admissions Advisory: If full funding is required and MS is self-funded, students are strongly advised to apply directly to the PhD track.
Vetted Matched Scholars (2 Profiles)
Prof. Åsa Rennermalm
Professor of Geography
In Plain Terms · What This Scholar Does:
She tracks massive meltwater rivers flowing across the surface of Greenland's glaciers using satellites and drones to discover how fast the ice sheet is melting and contributing to global sea-level rise.
Core Research Topics: Cryospheric hydrology, Greenland ice sheet meltwater runoff, Arctic hydrology, satellite remote sensing, supraglacial river networks.
Recent 2024–2026 Works & Grants: Quantifying how meltwater rivers carved on top of the Greenland Ice Sheet drain into moulins and lubricate glacial sliding into the ocean, using UAV imagery and satellite radar altimetry (NSF Arctic Natural Sciences Award 2024–2026).
Laboratory Instruments & Methods: High-resolution satellite imagery (WorldView, Sentinel-2), drone photogrammetry, hydrological runoff routing models, Python, GIS.
Recruiting Context: Foremost expert in Greenland supraglacial river hydrology with continuous NSF polar funding.
Candidate Match:
HydrologyRemote SensingGISClimate Change
Tailored Cold-Email Opening Hook:
"Discussing your interest in cryospheric hydrology, Greenland ice sheet runoff modeling, and remote sensing in the Rennermalm Lab."
Prof. Weilin Huang
Professor of Environmental Sciences
In Plain Terms · What This Scholar Does:
He synthesizes specialized carbon micro-filters to capture 'forever chemicals' (PFAS) and medication residues from polluted drinking water before they enter public taps.
Core Research Topics: Environmental physical-chemical processes, fate and transport of organic contaminants, PFAS remediation, sorptive filtration, water treatment.
Recent 2024–2026 Works & Grants: Investigating nanoscale biochar and engineered carbon sorbents for capturing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and emerging pharmaceutical residues from contaminated groundwater and municipal wastewater effluents.
Laboratory Instruments & Methods: High-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS), batch adsorption reactors, solid-phase extraction, spectroscopic surface analysis.
Recruiting Context: Extensive lab research infrastructure in environmental chemical kinetics and water treatment.
Candidate Match:
Environmental PollutionWater QualityWet Lab Environmental TestingPFAS Contamination
Tailored Cold-Email Opening Hook:
"Discussing your interest in emerging contaminant sorption kinetics, PFAS water treatment, and wet-lab analytical chemistry in your laboratory."