Graduate assistantships at the Annis Water Resources Institute
James N. McNair
Robert B. Annis Water Resources Institute, Muskegon, Michigan
Announcement
I expect to have funding for a Master's graduate assistantship beginning in Fall 2025 and running through Spring 2027. Students with a Bachelor's degree in science, engineering, mathematics, or statistics and an interest in one of my current research areas, as presented on this website, are encouraged to contact me to discuss possible research projects.
Overview of the graduate program
Each year, the Robert B. Annis Water Resources Institute (AWRI) offers assistantships to incoming, full-time graduate students interested in pursuing a Master of Science degree in Biology with an emphasis in the aquatic sciences. Graduate assistantships offered by AWRI include a generous 12-month stipend and a tuition waiver, both of which can be renewed for a total duration of 2 years. Our graduate students do not serve as Teaching Assistants and are therefore able to devote considerably more time to their research projects than is possible at institutions that support graduate students with teaching assistantships.
AWRI maintains modern analytical and GIS laboratories, as well as several boats (including an electrofishing boat) and ample field equipment for stream ecosystem research, fisheries research, and various other types of research in the aquatic sciences. Field equipment for stream ecosystem research includes numerous multiprobe sondes with built-in data loggers, state-of-the-art velocity meters, numerous light and temperature loggers, various conservative tracers, and standard hydrology equipment for characterizing stream channels.
Prospective graduate students must apply to and be accepted into the Master of Science degree program in the Department of Biology at Grand Valley State University (located about 30 miles from AWRI) as a full-time student. A faculty member at AWRI must agree to serve as the student's thesis advisor. Students interested in AWRI assistantships are strongly encouraged to contact prospective advisors at AWRI several months before the application deadline, which is January 15 each year. Additional information on applying to the graduate program can be found here.
AWRI is located in Muskegon, Michigan, on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan. The Institute is situated on Muskegon Lake, which is a river-mouth lake that is fed by the Muskegon River and empties into Lake Michigan. We are about 40 miles by interstate from Grand Rapids, the second-largest city in Michigan.