The Xi Lab at Texas A&M University-Kingsville, is recruiting 2 highly motivated M.S. student to join the lab as Research Assistants (RAs) starting spring or summer in 2020. Those positions are provided 2 years graduate research assistantships supported by USDA Forest Service Grants.

The Xi lab’s research has been focusing on the impact of forest disturbance (drought, fires and climate change), landscape modeling, geo-spatial analysis, and forest sustainable management. The students will be expected to conduct his/her thesis research broadly addressing forest biomass/carbon dynamics, fire and drought impacts and sustainable management of forests under climate change in east Texas and north California. The students will be expected to make use of forest landscape models, Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) data and related geo-spatial climate and soil data for his/her project and the results of the research could support the sustainable management of the forests ecosystems in the regions. Research topics identified as particularly relevant include (1) forest productivity and biomass/carbon dynamics, (2) wildfire effects, (3) insect pest outbreaks, (4) drought impacts (5) climate change, and (6) forest resilience and sustainability.