Departmental Unit № 1
Department of Geography and the Environment & Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
PhD in Geography and the Environment / PhD in Civil and Environmental Engineering
100% Full Funding Guaranteed (5 Years)
Funding Package: Full tuition scholarship + 9-12 month living stipend (~$27,000–$31,000/yr) + university health insurance package guaranteed via Maxwell Fellowships and GTA/GRA appointments.
Fall Priority Deadline: January 15 (Fall Priority)
GRE Policy: Not required / Waived
English Minimums: TOEFL iBT 80 or IELTS 6.5
MA in Geography / MS in Environmental Engineering (Thesis Option)
Eligible for GTA/GRA Tuition Waivers and Stipends
Funding Reality: Department funds qualified thesis master's students on departmental TAships covering tuition and living stipends.
Application Deadline: January 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. Peng Gao
Professor of Geography and the Environment
In Plain Terms · What This Scholar Does:
He uses computer models and river instruments to calculate how much soil and gravel storms wash off hillsides into rivers, predicting which reservoirs will fill with silt or which riverbeds will erode away.
Core Research Topics: Fluvial geomorphology, watershed hydrology, sediment transport modeling, soil erosion dynamics, river restoration.
Recent 2024–2026 Works & Grants: Developing physically-based sediment rating curves and numerical watershed models to predict sediment yield, river bedload movement, and reservoir siltation during extreme flash flood storms (NSF Geomorphology 2024–2026).
Laboratory Instruments & Methods: SWAT (Soil and Water Assessment Tool), acoustic sediment sensors, flume experiments, Python, GIS watershed delineation.
Recruiting Context: Expert in watershed sediment transport and fluvial processes in the renowned Maxwell School.
Candidate Match:
HydrologyGeomorphologyFlood StudiesGISEnvironmental Modeling
Tailored Cold-Email Opening Hook:
"Discussing your interest in watershed sediment yield modeling, fluvial geomorphology, and SWAT hydrological simulation in the Gao Lab."
Prof. Teng Zeng
Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering
In Plain Terms · What This Scholar Does:
He tests how ozone gas and chemical oxidizers break down toxic 'forever chemicals' and chlorine byproducts in wastewater so treated water can be safely recycled for city use.
Core Research Topics: Environmental organic chemistry, aquatic micropollutants, PFAS degradation kinetics, disinfection byproducts, high-resolution mass spectrometry.
Recent 2024–2026 Works & Grants: Investigating the transformation pathways and chemical oxidation kinetics of perfluoroalkyl carboxylic acids and brominated disinfection byproducts during advanced water reuse and catalytic ozonation processes (NSF Environmental Chemical Sciences 2024–2026).
Laboratory Instruments & Methods: UPLC-Orbitrap HRMS, GC-MS, chemical kinetic modeling, kinetic spectrophotometry, solid-phase extraction, wet lab analytical assays.
Recruiting Context: Active wet-lab group equipped with cutting-edge Orbitrap high-resolution mass spectrometers.
Candidate Match:
Environmental PollutionWater QualityWet Lab Environmental TestingEnvironmental Chemistry
Tailored Cold-Email Opening Hook:
"Discussing your interest in chemical oxidation kinetics, PFAS transformation pathways, and high-resolution mass spectrometry in the Zeng Lab."