Departmental Unit № 1
Department of Geography and Spatial Sciences & Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
PhD in Geography / PhD in Civil and Environmental Engineering
100% Full Funding Guaranteed (4-5 Years)
Funding Package: 100% tuition waiver + 9-12 month living stipend (~$28,000–$32,000/yr) + subsidized university health insurance covered via Graduate Teaching and Research Assistantships.
Fall Priority Deadline: January 15 (Fall Priority)
GRE Policy: Not required / Waived
English Minimums: TOEFL iBT 79 or IELTS 6.5
MS in Geography (Thesis Track) / MS in Environmental Engineering
100% Full Funding Available for Thesis MS (Tuition Waiver + Stipend)
Funding Reality: University of Delaware routinely awards 2-year funded Graduate Assistantships to accepted thesis MS students.
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. Pinki Mondal
Associate Professor of Geography and Spatial Sciences
In Plain Terms · What This Scholar Does:
NSF CAREER awardee who uses satellite constellations to detect how rising sea levels push saltwater into coastal farmland, mapping exactly which crop fields and coastal wetlands are dying from salt poisoning.
Core Research Topics: Satellite remote sensing, GeoAI, coastal agricultural vulnerability, mangrove salinity intrusion, Google Earth Engine analytics.
Recent 2024–2026 Works & Grants: Using multi-sensor satellite time-series (Landsat, Sentinel-2, PlanetScope) and machine learning models to detect agricultural soil salinization and mangrove degradation driven by sea-level rise across coastal deltas in the US and South Asia (NASA LCLUC / NSF CAREER Award 2024–2026).
Laboratory Instruments & Methods: Google Earth Engine, Random Forest / XGBoost classifiers, Python, R, QGIS, multispectral satellite time-series.
Recruiting Context: Recipient of the prestigious NSF CAREER award and NASA New Investigator award; actively recruiting PhD students.
Candidate Match:
Remote SensingGISGeoAICoastal Hydrology
Tailored Cold-Email Opening Hook:
"Discussing your interest in satellite time-series analytics, coastal salinization remote sensing, and Google Earth Engine workflows in the Mondal Lab."
Prof. Pei Chiu
Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering
In Plain Terms · What This Scholar Does:
He uses recycled zero-valent iron metal filings to create chemical filter trenches that break down dangerous nitrates, pesticides, and persistent industrial pollutants in stormwater runoff.
Core Research Topics: Environmental chemistry, zero-valent iron water treatment, PFAS degradation, chemical reduction of pollutants, stormwater bioretention filters.
Recent 2024–2026 Works & Grants: Developing scrap-iron and engineered zero-valent iron (ZVI) amended biofiltration media to remove nitrate, phosphorus, and recalcitrant chemical contaminants from agricultural runoff and urban stormwater (EPA / USDA 2024–2026).
Laboratory Instruments & Methods: Batch anaerobic reactors, GC-ECD/MS, IC, surface area and porosity analysis (BET), wet lab redox kinetic assays.
Recruiting Context: World authority on zero-valent iron (ZVI) environmental chemical reactions and contaminant destruction.
Candidate Match:
Environmental PollutionWater QualityWet Lab Environmental TestingEnvironmental Remediation
Tailored Cold-Email Opening Hook:
"Discussing your interest in zero-valent iron water treatment, contaminant redox kinetics, and wet-lab analytical testing in the Chiu Research Group."