Departmental Unit № 1
Department of Geography
PhD in Geography
100% Full Funding Guaranteed (5 Years)
Funding Package: Full tuition waiver + 9-month living stipend (~$24,000–$28,000/yr + summer support) + university health insurance package guaranteed via Graduate Employee (GE) appointments.
Fall Priority Deadline: December 15 (Fall Priority)
GRE Policy: Not required / Waived
English Minimums: TOEFL iBT 88 or IELTS 7.0
MS in Geography (Thesis Track)
100% Full Funding Available for Thesis MS (Tuition Waiver + Stipend)
Funding Reality: University of Oregon Geography regularly funds admitted MS students with full Graduate Employee (GE) tuition waivers and living stipends for 2 years.
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. Sarah W. Cooley
Assistant Professor of Geography
In Plain Terms · What This Scholar Does:
She uses NASA's newest water-mapping radar satellite (SWOT) to measure the water depth and volume of millions of remote Arctic lakes from space to see how fast climate change is drying or expanding them.
Core Research Topics: Surface water remote sensing, SWOT satellite hydrology, Arctic lake water storage, optical and radar altimetry, river discharge estimation.
Recent 2024–2026 Works & Grants: Using NASA's newly launched Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite radar altimeter and CubeSat constellations (PlanetScope) to measure water surface elevations and storage variations across millions of Arctic and sub-Arctic lakes (NASA SWOT Science Team Award 2024–2026).
Laboratory Instruments & Methods: NASA SWOT Ka-band radar interferometer, ICESat-2 photon-counting LiDAR, PlanetScope optical imagery, Python, Google Earth Engine.
Recruiting Context: Rising Assistant Professor on the NASA SWOT Science Team; actively seeking motivated graduate students with remote sensing and Python skills.
Candidate Match:
Remote SensingHydrologyGISClimate Change
Tailored Cold-Email Opening Hook:
"Discussing your interest in spaceborne surface water remote sensing, SWOT satellite radar altimetry, and Arctic lake hydrology in the Cooley Lab."
Prof. Mark Fonstad
Associate Professor of Geography
In Plain Terms · What This Scholar Does:
He turns simple aerial drone photographs into millimeter-accurate 3D river models and uses cellular automata physics to predict where floodwaters will rip open new river channels during storms.
Core Research Topics: Fluvial geomorphology, hydrology, Structure-from-Motion (SfM) photogrammetry, cellular automata river modeling, drone terrain mapping.
Recent 2024–2026 Works & Grants: Pioneered Structure-from-Motion (SfM) photogrammetry in geosciences; currently developing cellular automata simulations of braided river channel avulsion and sediment wave routing following major Pacific Northwest winter storm floods.
Laboratory Instruments & Methods: Structure-from-Motion (Agisoft Metashape), drone surveys, cellular automata simulations, Python, R, GIS.
Recruiting Context: Seminal pioneer who introduced Structure-from-Motion photogrammetry to earth surface processes.
Candidate Match:
HydrologyGeomorphologyRemote SensingFlood StudiesGIS
Tailored Cold-Email Opening Hook:
"Discussing your interest in fluvial geomorphology, drone Structure-from-Motion terrain modeling, and river flood dynamics in your group."