Departmental Unit № 1
Department of Earth and Environment & Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
PhD in Earth Systems Science / PhD in Civil and Environmental Engineering
100% Full Funding Guaranteed (Teaching/Research Assistantship)
Funding Package: Full tuition waiver + 9-12 month living stipend (~$24,000–$28,000/yr) + university health insurance covered via Graduate Assistantships (GTA/GRA).
Fall Priority Deadline: January 15 (Fall Priority)
GRE Policy: Not required / Waived
English Minimums: TOEFL iBT 80 or IELTS 6.5
MS in Environmental Studies (Thesis Track) / MS in Environmental Engineering
Eligible for Full GTA/GRA Funding (Tuition Waiver + Stipend)
Funding Reality: FIU Earth and Environment regularly provides Graduate Assistantships with full tuition waivers and stipends to thesis master's students.
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. Keqi Zhang
Professor of Earth and Environment and Director, Laboratory for Coastal Research
In Plain Terms · What This Scholar Does:
He developed the famous LiDAR filtering algorithms used worldwide to remove buildings and trees from laser maps, using them to create street-by-street flood maps that predict which Miami roads will drown during high-tide sunny days and hurricane surges.
Core Research Topics: Airborne LiDAR, storm surge modeling, sea level rise coastal inundation, GIS spatial analysis, barrier island erosion.
Recent 2024–2026 Works & Grants: Developing automated LiDAR ground filtering algorithms and hydrodynamic storm surge inundation models (SLOSH, ADCIRC) to map street-by-street sunny day king tide flooding and hurricane surge hazards in South Florida (NOAA Sea Grant / Florida DEO 2024–2026).
Laboratory Instruments & Methods: Airborne LiDAR point processing, ADCIRC, SLOSH, Python, C++, ArcGIS Pro, high-resolution hydrodynamic modeling.
Recruiting Context: World authority on airborne LiDAR terrain filtering and coastal storm surge inundation mapping.
Candidate Match:
Remote SensingGISFlood StudiesCoastal Hydrology
Tailored Cold-Email Opening Hook:
"Discussing your interest in airborne LiDAR terrain processing, hydrodynamic storm surge modeling, and coastal flood risk mapping in the Zhang Lab."
Prof. Berrin Tansel
Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering
In Plain Terms · What This Scholar Does:
She designs high-tech water filtration membranes that can filter out poisonous landfill runoff and salty ocean water from coastal drinking wells, preventing drinking water contamination in coastal cities.
Core Research Topics: Contaminant transport, membrane water treatment, landfill leachate mitigation, coastal aquifer salinity intrusion, water reuse technologies.
Recent 2024–2026 Works & Grants: Investigating membrane separation mechanisms and fouling control during reverse osmosis treatment of high-salinity coastal groundwater and landfill leachates containing emerging toxic pollutants (EPA / Water Research Foundation 2024–2026).
Laboratory Instruments & Methods: Bench-scale reverse osmosis / nanofiltration units, ion chromatography, scanning electron microscopy, geochemical transport modeling, wet lab water quality testing.
Recruiting Context: Diplomate of Water Resources Engineers (D.WRE) and prominent authority on membrane separations and coastal water treatment.
Candidate Match:
Water QualityEnvironmental PollutionWet Lab Environmental TestingEnvironmental Remediation
Tailored Cold-Email Opening Hook:
"Discussing your interest in membrane filtration mechanisms, coastal groundwater contaminant transport, and water treatment in the Tansel Research Group."