Departmental Unit № 1
Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences & Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
PhD in Environmental Science and Engineering / PhD in Geosciences
100% Full Funding Guaranteed (Teaching/Research Assistantship)
Funding Package: Full tuition coverage + monthly living stipend (~$24,000–$28,000/yr) + university health insurance package guaranteed via Graduate Assistantships (GTA/GRA).
Fall Priority Deadline: February 1 (Fall Priority)
GRE Policy: Not required / Waived
English Minimums: TOEFL iBT 79 or IELTS 6.5
MS in Geoinformatics / MS in Environmental Science (Thesis Option)
Eligible for GTA/GRA Tuition Waivers and Stipends
Funding Reality: UTSA regularly awards departmental teaching assistantships to admitted thesis master's candidates.
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 (1 Profiles)
Prof. Hongjie Xie
Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences and Director, Laboratory for Remote Sensing and Geoinformatics (LRSG)
In Plain Terms · What This Scholar Does:
He directs a major remote sensing lab that uses satellite laser beams shot from orbit (ICESat-2) and radar pulses to measure melting polar ice sheets and map street-level flash flood inundation during Texas storms.
Core Research Topics: Satellite remote sensing, LiDAR, GIS, sea ice and snow hydrology, flood inundation mapping, drone photogrammetry.
Recent 2024–2026 Works & Grants: Combining spaceborne laser altimetry (ICESat-2), radar satellites (Sentinel-1), and optical imagery to monitor polar ice thickness and map catastrophic flash flood inundation across Texas urban watersheds (NASA Cryospheric Sciences / NOAA 2024–2026).
Laboratory Instruments & Methods: ICESat-2 photon data, Sentinel-1 SAR, drone LiDAR, Python, Google Earth Engine, ArcGIS Pro.
Recruiting Context: Director of LRSG; prolific NASA remote sensing investigator with extensive satellite data processing grants.
Candidate Match:
Remote SensingGISHydrologyFlood StudiesGeoAI
Tailored Cold-Email Opening Hook:
"Discussing your interest in ICESat-2 satellite altimetry, SAR flood inundation mapping, and remote sensing workflows at LRSG."