The Department of Geography at New Mexico State University (NMSU) is seeking Masters and Ph.D. students who will begin in Fall 2020. We offer competitive funding packages through teaching assistantships, research assistantships, and academic scholarships. For Fall 2020, we are particularly seeking students with interests in geographic information science, remote sensing, spatial modeling, landscape ecology, and geohumanities.
NMSU’s geography faculty have expertise in the broad fields of human-environment geography, geographic information science, and physical geography. They engage in local, regional, and global research on topics including water resources, land system science, geographic education, geomorphology, climate change, geopoetics, remote sensing, spatial modeling, border studies, and drylands. Located in Las Cruces, NMSU boasts nearly 300 days of sunshine annually and easy access to the Basin and Range, Colorado Plateaus, Rocky Mountains, and Great Plains. Also within easy reach is the U.S.–Mexico border, and other globally prominent geographic features, including the lands of many Indigenous nations and several national monuments, parks, and forests. The university has several research centers and facilities that support geography research in areas as diverse as border studies, water resources research, spatial ecology, Native American Studies, and art. Additional unique resources are the Physical Science Lab, which manages one of only seven FAA UAS test sites in the nation, and the Jornada Experimental Range – one of thirty U.S. long-term ecological research sites.
Our Master of Applied Geography (M.A.G.) students specialize in GIScience or environmental studies and conduct research throughout the U.S. Southwest and several countries around the world. We fund nearly all students accepted to our M.A.G. program. Our Ph.D. program is offered jointly with the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies at the University of New Mexico (UNM) and is launching in Fall 2020, with applications at NMSU accepted until 29 February 2020. The Ph.D. program allows students to access resources at both NMSU and UNM while pursuing research in human-environment geography and GIScience. We anticipate funding nearly all students admitted to the program. For more on this program, see https://geographyphdnmsu.unm.
As New Mexico’s land grant institution, NMSU is committed to diversity and excellence in research, education, extension and outreach, and public service. More than 50% of NMSU’s students are Hispanic, American Indian, Asian, or African-American. NMSU ranked first in the country for federal obligations for science and engineering activities for minority-serving institutions according to a recent report from the National Science Foundation’s National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics.
For more information, contact Dr. Michaela Buenemann (elabuen@nmsu.edu), the graduate program director.