Departmental Unit № 1
Department of Geography and Urban Studies & Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
PhD in Geography and Urban Studies / PhD in Civil and Environmental Engineering
100% Full Funding Guaranteed (4-5 Years)
Funding Package: Full tuition remission + 9-10 month living stipend (~$24,000–$28,000/yr + summer funding) + health insurance package guaranteed via University Fellowships and GTA/GRA appointments.
Fall Priority Deadline: January 15 (Fall Priority)
GRE Policy: Not required / Waived
English Minimums: TOEFL iBT 79 or IELTS 6.5
Professional Science Master's (PSM) in GIS / MS in Environmental Engineering
Research Assistantships Available for MS Thesis
Funding Reality: Environmental Engineering MS students working on sponsored lab projects can receive GRA tuition waivers and stipends.
Application Deadline: February 1
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. Jeremy Mennis
Professor of Geography and Urban Studies
In Plain Terms · What This Scholar Does:
He uses advanced spatial statistics and GIS to map how proximity to toxic industrial pollution corridors and hot asphalt neighborhoods harms public health across metropolitan areas.
Core Research Topics: Geographic information science, spatial data science, spatio-temporal modeling, environmental health disparities, spatial statistics.
Recent 2024–2026 Works & Grants: Applying spatio-temporal point process models and Bayesian spatial regression to evaluate how urban green space, industrial pollution corridors, and heat exposure intersect in marginalized urban communities (NIH / NSF 2024–2026).
Laboratory Instruments & Methods: R, Python, GeoDa, ArcGIS Pro, Bayesian spatial statistics (INLA), spatial econometrics.
Recruiting Context: Senior scholar in GIScience, spatial statistics, and environmental spatial analytics.
Candidate Match:
GISSpatial StatisticsEnvironmental PollutionGeoAI
Tailored Cold-Email Opening Hook:
"Discussing your interest in spatial data science, Bayesian spatio-temporal modeling, and environmental health GIS in your research group."
Prof. Rominder Suri
Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Director, Water & Environmental Technology (WET) Center
In Plain Terms · What This Scholar Does:
He uses high-energy ultrasound soundwaves that create microscopic exploding bubbles in water to shatter apart indestructible 'forever chemical' (PFAS) molecules into harmless salt.
Core Research Topics: Emerging water contaminants, ultrasound cavitation destruction, PFAS degradation, advanced oxidation processes (AOPs), industrial wastewater treatment.
Recent 2024–2026 Works & Grants: Directing the NSF WET Center and developing high-frequency acoustic sonolysis (ultrasound cavitation) coupled with advanced oxidation to mineralize short- and long-chain PFAS compounds and pharmaceutical residues in water (NSF I/UCRC / DoD 2024–2026).
Laboratory Instruments & Methods: Ultrasound sonochemical reactors, LC-MS/MS, GC-MS, total organic carbon (TOC) analyzers, spectrophotometry, pilot water treatment systems.
Recruiting Context: Director of the multi-university NSF WET Center with extensive industrial and federal funding.
Candidate Match:
Environmental PollutionWater QualityWet Lab Environmental TestingEnvironmental Remediation
Tailored Cold-Email Opening Hook:
"Discussing your interest in sonochemical PFAS destruction, advanced oxidation water treatment, and LC-MS/MS testing at the WET Center."