Fully Funded MS and PhD Freshwater Ecology Graduate Assistantship at University of North Dakota USA

What happens to a lake food web after a wildfire? How do shifting temperatures and hydrology rewrite energy flow from algae and invertebrates up to fish? And what do prairie pothole lakes in North Dakota have in common with glacial streams in Alaska?

Those questions sit at the center of a new graduate opportunity at the University of North Dakota. Dr. Matthew R. Dunkle is recruiting one or more MS or PhD students in freshwater ecology for a target start of summer or fall 2027, with a possible January start for well-qualified applicants who reach out immediately. This is a new lab. Incoming students will help set its culture and research direction, not inherit a finished program.

If you have a bachelor’s degree in ecology, biology, environmental science, or a related field and want funded graduate training in food-web ecology, this position is worth a close look.

Scholarship Summary

Host Country: USA
Host University: University of North Dakota (Grand Forks, North Dakota)
Scholarship Type: MSC Scholarships/PhD Scholarships
Eligible Countries: All Countries
Scholarship Benefits: Full tuition fee, Living stipend, etc.
Application Deadline: Rolling review through January 31, 2027 (email materials); formal UND Biology graduate application due February 15, 2027. Well-qualified applicants seeking a January start should contact the PI before October 10, 2026.

Why This Position Stands Out Among 2027 Freshwater Ecology Graduate Openings

Many graduate assistantships drop students into an established project with a fixed question. This one is different. The lab is new. That means real input on study systems, methods, and lab norms, while still receiving structured training in core skills that employers and doctoral committees expect.

The scientific core is food-web and trophic dynamics in lakes and streams. Approaches include diet analysis, stable isotopes, biomarkers, secondary production, and quantitative food-web analysis. The applied angle is how climate change and disturbance—wildfire, changing thermal regimes, and shifting hydrology—restructure those networks.

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Dr. Dunkle’s field background spans Alaska and the Pacific Northwest, including work on meltwater, snowpack, glacier-fed streams, and fish growth. He is equally open to students who want to build projects in North Dakota and nearby systems: prairie pothole lakes, the Red River, Devils Lake, and the prairie-to-boreal ecotone of northern Minnesota. That combination—northern and western field experience plus local Great Plains waters—is uncommon and scientifically useful. Prairie wetlands and closed-basin lakes are already changing in volume, salinity, and fish and invertebrate communities under wetter recent climate regimes. Those shifts are documented in long-term USGS work on prairie lakes and wetlands.

Potential research directions include:

Fish and invertebrate secondary production in streams, rivers, and lakes
Trophic responses of lakes and streams to wildfire or other acute disturbances
Climate-driven shifts in thermal regime and cascading effects on food webs
Braided-river channel production and food-web dynamics
Stable isotope and biomarker approaches to tracking energy flow
Comparative food-web structure across gradients of hydrologic connectivity or land use

Students will be trained in traditional stream ecology, stable isotope methods, field sampling design, quantitative food-web analysis, statistical programming in R, and scientific writing. Support for presenting at national meetings is part of the package.

Funding: Stipend, Tuition Waiver, and Health Insurance

Incoming students start on a Department of Biology Teaching Assistantship:

About $1,888 per month for MS students
About $2,388 per month for PhD students
Tuition waiver
Health insurance

A move to a Research Assistantship is expected if pending grant proposals succeed. Hours are listed at 40 per week. Start date is targeted between May 15 and August 15, 2027.

This structure is typical of U.S. biology graduate programs: teaching support first, research support as grants land. For cost-of-living in Grand Forks, a guaranteed stipend plus waived tuition is a meaningful package. Additional internal fellowships exist at UND through the School of Graduate Studies, and North Dakota water-resources fellowships have historically been available to UND and NDSU students working on state water issues. Those are separate competitions, not guaranteed with this offer.

Who Should Apply for Fully Funded Graduate Assistantship University of North Dakota

Required:

B.S. in ecology, biology, environmental science, or a related field
Genuine interest in freshwater ecosystems and willingness to build independent research skills
Ability to work independently and in a team
Willingness to do fieldwork in variable conditions (heat, cold, rain, insects, long days)

Preferred:

Prior field or lab research experience
Familiarity with R or another statistical/programming environment

The job-board listing also shows “at least 4 years experience.” That appears to be a form default, not a hard requirement in the PI’s description. A completed bachelor’s degree plus demonstrated interest is the stated bar.

This position will fit students who like both muddy boots and data. If you enjoy sorting invertebrates, collecting fish, running isotope samples, and then sitting with R to ask whether energy pathways actually changed after a disturbance, you are in the right neighborhood.

International applicants are not excluded in the posting. You will still need to meet University of North Dakota graduate admission rules, including English-language proficiency where required. Confirm current international deadlines and visa timing on the School of Graduate Studies site before you assume a January start is realistic.

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How to Apply for Fully Funded Graduate Assistantship At University of North Dakota: Two Steps, Different Deadlines

There are two processes. Do not confuse them.

Step 1 — Contact the PI (do this first)

Email a single PDF to matthew.dunkle@und.edu with the subject line:

GA Position (Last Name)

If you want to be considered for a January start, add “January Start” to the subject and write before October 10, 2026.

Include:

A one-page cover letter on research interests, relevant experience, and career goals
A CV or resume
Contact information for three references

Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis until January 31, 2027. The board listing also shows February 1, 2027 as an application deadline; treat late January as the practical cutoff for the PI packet.

Step 2 — Formal UND Biology graduate application

Admission to the MS or PhD program in Biology is a separate university process. The Biology graduate priority deadline for fall is February 15. Spring deadlines are earlier (typically mid-September to mid-October). GRE scores are not required. Minimum GPA guidance is a 2.75 overall undergraduate GPA or 3.0 in junior/senior credits for many applicants; PhD applicants with a prior master’s are expected to show stronger records. Confirm current requirements on the official program pages.

Useful official pages:

Original position listing: Graduate Student Position (MS or PhD) — Freshwater Ecology, University of North Dakota
UND Biology graduate study overview: Graduate Study in Biology
Master’s Degree in Biology
Biology Ph.D.
UND School of Graduate Studies: Graduate School

Dr. Dunkle’s published work on meltwater, glacier and snow-fed streams, invertebrate production, and fish growth is a good place to see the scientific style of the lab before you write. Search “Matthew R. Dunkle” on Google Scholar. Recent papers address how loss of meltwater can synchronize river habitats and how cryosphere change constrains fish growth through food-web phenology.

Field Context: Why North Dakota Freshwater Systems Matter

North Dakota is not a default destination in many ecology students’ mental maps. That is a reason to look harder, not skip it.

The Prairie Pothole Region is one of the most important wetland complexes in North America for waterfowl production and for questions about hydrology, salinity, and climate. Closed-basin systems such as Devils Lake have seen large water-level swings. USGS resampling of prairie lakes and large wetlands found that a wetter climate period reduced chemical diversity among basins, allowed fish into waters that were once too saline, and shifted invertebrate communities away from high-salinity specialists. Those are food-web problems, not just water-quality problems.

Add the Red River, agricultural land-use gradients, and the transition into northern Minnesota’s boundary waters, and you have a landscape where hydrologic connectivity, disturbance, and climate are not abstractions. A student who wants comparative work across disturbance types or water sources can also look north and west, following the PI’s existing field experience.

UND’s Biology department already supports graduate work in ecology, conservation biology, fisheries biology, and grassland ecology, with field stations and northern-plains landscapes as part of the setting. The department is also hiring in freshwater ecology at the faculty level, which signals growing investment in the area.

How to Write a Strong Packet for This Lab

A generic “I love nature and want a master’s” letter will not stand out. A useful one-page letter usually does four things:

Names a research theme from the list above that you actually want to work on
Shows that you understand the difference between collecting samples and asking a food-web question
Documents any field, lab, or coding experience without padding
States a plausible career direction (agency science, PhD, teaching, conservation) so the PI can see how the training fits

If you have R scripts, a senior thesis, an undergraduate research poster, or seasonal technician work on streams or lakes, put it on the CV where it is easy to find. If you do not have isotope experience, say so honestly and point to related skills (inverts, fish, water chemistry, GIS, statistics). Preferred qualifications are preferred, not gates.

References should be people who can speak to independence in the field or lab. A professor who watched you disappear for a summer on a stream crew is more useful than a lecturer who only knows your exam scores.

Bottom Line

This is a funded MS or PhD seat in a new University of North Dakota freshwater ecology lab focused on food webs, climate, and disturbance. Funding starts as a teaching assistantship with stipend, tuition waiver, and health insurance. The scientific menu ranges from prairie potholes and the Red River to Alaskan and Pacific Northwest watersheds. Students who want a voice in a young lab, and who are willing to work outside in real weather, should email Dr. Dunkle soon.

If a January 2027 start is your goal, the contact window before October 10, 2026 is short. Everyone else should treat late January 2027 as the working deadline for the PI packet and February 15, 2027 as the formal Biology graduate deadline.

Send one PDF. Make the letter specific. Then complete the university application if the conversation moves forward.

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