Departmental Unit № 1
Department of Earth and Environmental Science (EES)
PhD in Earth and Environmental Science
100% Full Funding Guaranteed (5 Years)
Funding Package: Full tuition fellowship + 12-month stipend (~$42,000/yr) + health insurance for 5 years through the Penn Arts & Sciences Graduate Division.
Fall Priority Deadline: December 15
GRE Policy: Not required / Waived
English Minimums: TOEFL iBT 100 minimum or IELTS 7.5 minimum
Master of Environmental Studies (MES)
Professional Degree / Self-Funded (Warning: Target PhD)
Funding Reality: Penn MES is a professional program without guaranteed funding. International candidates seeking full scholarships should target the PhD track.
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 (3 Profiles)
Prof. Chen Wang
Assistant Professor of Earth and Environmental Science
In Plain Terms · What This Scholar Does:
He uses geophysical X-ray-like instruments on the ground to see deep underground water flows and melting snow without digging a single hole.
Core Research Topics: Near-surface hydrogeophysics, subsurface hydrology, groundwater-surface water interactions, snow hydrology, environmental sensing.
Recent 2024–2026 Works & Grants: Tenure-track Assistant Professor! Directs Wang Hydrogeophysics Group. Deploys electrical resistivity tomography (ERT), ground penetrating radar (GPR), and fiber-optic temperature sensing to map hidden groundwater pathways and snowpack melting.
Laboratory Instruments & Methods: Hydrogeophysical sensors (ERT, GPR, seismic), subsurface hydrological models, spatial hydrological interpolation in GIS, Python.
Recruiting Context: Tenure-track Assistant Professor! Actively building his lab. Eagerly recruiting PhD students for near-surface hydrological monitoring.
Candidate Match:
HydrologyWater ResourcesEnvironmental ScienceGIS
Tailored Cold-Email Opening Hook:
"Discussing groundwater-surface water interactions and near-surface hydrological monitoring techniques."
Prof. Hugo N. Ulloa
Assistant Professor of Earth and Environmental Science
In Plain Terms · What This Scholar Does:
He studies the underwater currents, waves, and turbulence in lakes and rivers to discover how toxic chemical pollutants and algae blooms travel and spread.
Core Research Topics: Environmental fluid dynamics, physical limnology, water quality, pollutant transport in aquatic ecosystems, lake and river dynamics.
Recent 2024–2026 Works & Grants: Tenure-track Assistant Professor! Heads Ulloa Environmental Fluid Mechanics Lab. Investigates internal waves, thermal stratification, and how turbulent water mixing moves toxic algae, dissolved oxygen, and pollutants through lakes and estuaries.
Laboratory Instruments & Methods: Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers (ADCP), microprofilers, environmental fluid mechanics hydrodynamic models, GIS water quality mapping.
Recruiting Context: Tenure-track Assistant Professor! Actively recruiting graduate students for environmental fluid mechanics and aquatic pollution transport.
Candidate Match:
HydrologyEnvironmental PollutionWater QualityLab Testing
Tailored Cold-Email Opening Hook:
"Connecting water quality parameters and pollutant transport in aquatic environments to your wet-lab environmental science background."
Prof. Jon Hawkings
Assistant Professor of Earth and Environmental Science
In Plain Terms · What This Scholar Does:
He tests water samples from melting glaciers and rushing rivers in ultra-clean laboratories, measuring toxic heavy metals and vital nutrients flowing into global water supplies.
Core Research Topics: Aquatic biogeochemistry, trace metal pollution, nutrient cycling, watershed hydrology, analytical wet-lab water testing.
Recent 2024–2026 Works & Grants: Tenure-track Assistant Professor! Directs the Hawkings Biogeochemistry Lab. Investigates the release and transport of reactive trace metals (iron, silicon, toxic mercury) and nutrients in meltwater and river systems, measuring water quality using advanced wet-lab spectrometry.
Laboratory Instruments & Methods: Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS), clean-room wet-lab sample preparation, spectrophotometry, geochemical titration.
Recruiting Context: Tenure-track Assistant Professor! Highly active wet-lab exploring nutrient and heavy metal/pollutant transport through watershed systems.
Candidate Match:
Environmental PollutionLab Water TestingHydrologyEnvironmental Science
Tailored Cold-Email Opening Hook:
"Highlighting your hands-on laboratory titration, spectrometry, and environmental pollutant testing experience applied to watershed nutrient and trace element transport."