The Bhatnagar lab is seeking two Ph.D. students to join the lab in the Fall of 2020.

Projects are focused on the ecology and biochemistry of microorganisms in the environment – especially mycorrhizal fungi and free-living decomposer fungi – with the goal of understanding their community dynamics, their role in biogeochemical cycles, and how they are influenced by global change. Students will have the opportunity to become proficient in molecular, ecological, and mathematical approaches to study soil microbes in laboratory, greenhouse, and field systems. Our work focuses on the ecology of fungi, because they are responsible for moving large amounts of energy and elements between the biosphere and the atmosphere, their taxonomic and ecological diversity is immense, and because new tools are emerging to study these aspects of fungi in exciting and creative ways.

The Bhatnagar lab is located on the Charles River Campus at Boston University, where we interact with a variety of research programs spanning the Department of Biology, the Department of Chemistry, including the Chemical Instrumentation Center, and the Department of Earth and Environment. In addition to the graduate program in the Department of Biology, the College of Arts and Sciences hosts a number of interdisciplinary graduate research programs that span departments, including the Molecular and Cell Biology and Biochemistry program, the Biogeosciences program, and the Bioinformatics program.

Applicants with a background in ecology, biogeochemistry, molecular biology, mycology, and/or microbiology are encouraged to apply. Ideal students would have interest and experience in molecular and/or chemistry techniques.

Interested candidates should contact Jenny Bhatnagar via email (jmbhat@bu.edu) with information about their previous experience and their interest in joining the lab. Information about the BU Department of Biology Graduate Program, including graduate admissions deadlines, can be found here: http://www.bu.edu/biology/graduate/