Research Field Guide
How to Get an Environmental Science Research Position
To get a Environmental Science research position, find professors who are actively publishing in Environmental Science, read what they actually work on, and email one of them a short, specific note. The work mixes in-person and computational tasks, so there is a way to help either on-site or remotely.
Below are 12 professors publishing in Environmental Science right now, what each is working on, and how to reach out. Every name and topic is pulled from real, recent publication data, not a generic list.
Environmental Science professors who are actively publishing
| Professor | Institution | Recent research focus |
|---|---|---|
| Michael Diamond | Washington University in St. Louis | Methane Hydrates and Related Phenomena |
| Stephen R. Carpenter | University of Wisconsin System | Aquatic Ecosystems and Phytoplankton Dynamics |
| Kevin J. Gaston | University of Exeter | Species Distribution and Climate Change |
| Marten Scheffer | Wageningen University & Research | Aquatic Ecosystems and Phytoplankton Dynamics |
| Richard Smith | Hospital for Special Surgery | Methane Hydrates and Related Phenomena |
| Fredrik Ronquist | Swedish Museum of Natural History | Species Distribution and Climate Change |
| Yoshihiro Kawaoka | University of Wisconsin–Madison | Methane Hydrates and Related Phenomena |
| Jaap S. Sinninghe Damsté | Utrecht University | Methane Hydrates and Related Phenomena |
| Peter J. Hotez | Baylor College of Medicine | Parasite Biology and Host Interactions |
| Pierre Legendre | Université de Montréal | Species Distribution and Climate Change |
| Johannes Lehmann | Cornell University | Methane Hydrates and Related Phenomena |
| Philipp Fischer | Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung | Fish Ecology and Management Studies |
Sourced from OpenAlex publication records. Click a name to see their full profile and recent papers.
What Environmental Science research involves
Environmental science studies how natural systems work and how human activity changes them, spanning climate, water, soil, air, ecosystems, and pollution. Labs split across a few camps: field ecology and biogeochemistry groups that sample sites and measure what is happening on the ground; modeling groups that project climate, hydrology, or contaminant spread with code; and analytical groups that run samples in the lab or process satellite and sensor data. The work is genuinely mixed. Field campaigns and wet-lab analysis need you physically present, while remote sensing, data analysis, and modeling can be done from anywhere. Read a professor's recent papers first to tell whether they spend their time in the field, at the bench, or in code, because that decides how you can help.
How to email a Environmental Science professor
Before you email, work out whether the lab is field-based, lab-based, or computational, because your offer should match. For a modeling or remote-sensing group, say you can help analyze data and name a tool: Python, R, GIS, or experience with satellite datasets. For a field or wet-lab group, offer to help with sampling campaigns or sample processing and stress that you are careful and reliable with protocols. Point to one specific recent paper, name the system or question it studied, a watershed, a forest, an air-quality dataset, and ask one concrete question about the method. Keep it under 150 words and skip the adjectives; show you actually read the work.
Environmental Science overlaps with nearby fields. If you are casting a wider net, look at research positions in Public Health, Epidemiology, Microbiology, and Biochemistry.