Prospective Graduate Students
Hi! I’m so glad you’ve found this page and are interested in graduate school! This page is designed to make transparent as much of the hidden curriculum behind applying to graduate school in EPIC (which stands for Experimental Petrology & Igneous Processes Center, the second “p” is silent :) as possible.
How geoscience graduate school funding & admittance work in general
In general, a prospective student is accepted into a geoscience graduate program at a US college or university after their application is approved by both the school’s graduate committee and after a specific professor agrees to accept the primary advising responsibility for the student, which includes a commitment to assure the student is “fully funded”.
Being “fully funded” means MS & PhD students receive a 9- or 12-month salary and have their tuition and research expenses covered by a combination of research grants and working as a teaching assistant for classes taught in that school.
The good news is that this means that most graduate students do not pay out of pocket to pursue research-based geoscience graduate degrees (i.e., a geosci. grad. program where students produce a research-based thesis or dissertation) in the US. The more complicated news is that this means acceptance into this type of graduate school depends on many other things beyond the strength of a student's application, including how many applications a particular professor and graduate program gets each year, how both parties evaluate applications, and how much funding the selected professor (i.e., primary advisor) has available to support graduate students.*
*There are exceptions to this, such as when student bring their own grant or veteran funding and/or the primary advising commitment is made by a group of professors rather than a single one, for example. But these cases are less common.
Another difference between applying to graduate school and applying to college as an undergraduate is that in geoscience graduate school you are applying to work with a specific professor. In addition to accepting the responsibility to ensure that a graduate student is fully funded as described above, that professor will be the primary advisor/mentor for the student's graduate education overall and oversee their research, make recommendations for what classes they take, and advise their professional development overall (including helping build the skills necessary to get a graduate degree and related job in the future overall). This is why this professor is often referred to as the student's "primary advisor". In addition to a primary advisor, geoscience graduate students develop an advising committee composed of multiple professors and/or research professionals after their first semester enrolled in the program.
Because of the important role of the primary advisor in terms of both a student's overall degree experience and ensuring there are means to pay for the student's tuition, salary, benefits and research expenses during their degree, graduate school applicants are often advised to email specific professors (i.e., potential advisors) they are interested in working with before the application deadline in order to try and build a relationship with them. This is not only to ensure that the potential future advisor is aware of the student's application in advance, but also for both the student and advisor to see if they are likely to work well together and if their research interests are aligned. Perhaps such advice is what brought you to this page! While I respect and understand this advice, I handle applications to work in the EPIC lab a bit differently than many professors. Please see additional details about the process I follow in the next section titled "Specifics of Applying to the EPIC Lab".
You can find more detailed information about what is required to apply to the graduate programs in the College of Earth, Ocean & Atmospheric Sciences (CEOAS) at Oregon State University here.
I note that along with the standard application materials, the geology graduate program in CEOAS has an additional set of essay questions on the application, which you can find here. The last essay question asks if you would like to be considered for a graduate teaching assistantship. Unless you are bringing your own funding for graduate school in the form of a grant or scholarship, then the default answer should be "yes" for the reasons I discuss above. The application then asks what qualifications you have for a teaching assistant position, and here you should discuss any experience you have teaching or mentoring in any capacity.
Specifics of applying to work in the EPIC Lab
As discussed in the section above, you may have been advised to reach out to me as a potential advisor prior to OSU's application deadline to try and set up a time to talk one-on-one via email, at a conference or in a video chat. In general this is good advice, as it is important that both parties establish that a potential future advisor has the financial means to bring a new graduate student into their lab, that everyone in the lab will work well together, and that the student and advisor's research interests are well aligned.
What I do differently is that I have these one-on-one conversations after I evaluate all graduate applications to EPIC (so in early Winter) rather than before the application deadline. I have been working this way since Fall 2021 in order to not bias admissions decisions in favor students who received more advice/mentorship, have had more past opportunities, and/or who have connections to me through colleagues. Rather I strive to provide equitable access to graduate opportunities in EPIC for anyone who decides to apply, through sharing information on this webpage, ensuring all applicants having access to the same prior information, and reviewing all applications to EPIC through the same process (see rubric below). In place of one-on-one meetings before the application deadline, I typically host a series of open Zoom Information Sessions each Fall* about graduate school in EPIC and applying to OSU. These sessions are open to anyone and provide you a chance to ask questions about OSU and research in EPIC, as well as hear the responses to questions asked by other participants, with the goal of providing enough context to determine if you are interested in applying to work with me or not.
*Summer 2026 Update: Please check this space in early Fall when I will post the times for these information sessions.
Graduate applications for the College of Earth, Ocean & Atmospheric Science at Oregon State University are due December 15 to start the following Fall**. If you are interested in working with me as your primary advisor, please list me as one of the faculty you would like to work with on your application (you will be asked to list up one or more).
**You can apply for a need-based waiver to cover the cost of the graduate application fee. Please check back here closer to the application deadline for the process of how to apply for a waiver for the Winter 2026-27 application cycle.
After the applications are forwarded by the university to individual faculty (usually late December to early January), I evaluate them all using this rubric. I also note that both the College and I do not use GRE scores to evaluate applicants. Shortly thereafter, I will set up one-on-one virtual meetings via Zoom with the top 25-30% of applicants based on the rubric evaluation to get to know one another better and discuss the potential of joining the EPIC lab. I use the results of these meetings to determine the final applicant(s) for which I will commit to being the primary advisor, which includes a commitment to full funding as discussed above. Sometimes depending on the situation and number of applications that year, I will offer finalists a chance to visit the lab and OSU prior to making my final decision.
Once admitted into the College of Earth, Ocean & Atmospheric Science, accepted students are offered an expenses-paid trip to visit OSU and the EPIC lab prior to making your decision to accept the offer. During these visits prospective students have one-on-one discussions with their potential future advisors, and other graduate students and researchers in the College. These trips usually happen in February-March to provide adequate time for consideration prior to the April 15 decision deadline.
If an admitted applicant decides not to come to ASU prior to the April 15 decision deadline, acceptance into the EPIC lab may be offered to another finalist.
More details about being a graduate student in the EPIC lab
If you haven’t already, have a look around the rest of the EPIC webpage, my personal website, and those of current lab members and lab alumni to get a sense of our work and research interests. MS students in the EPIC lab usually complete one project and PhD students complete a minimum of three projects/chapters for their PhD, sometimes all related, sometimes not. I encourage all of my students to think of a graduate degree as a skill building opportunity (in addition to working on particular engaging scientific questions), and encourage them to build their tool kits to include experimental work, analytical geochemistry + modeling and field work. Thus, if you do you graduate work with me, you’ll likely do some of all of these activities, with the amount of any given one depending on your projects and interests.
As a mentor, I also prioritize building the myriad skills necessary to thrive as a scientist beyond doing the science itself, including effective science communication, grant writing, effective time management, overcoming obstacles, maintaining and prioritizing our mental health in academic environments, improving belonging, accessibility, and equity in the sciences, assessing potential career options and more. We work on these skills in our regular EPIC group meetings, in one-on-one meetings, classes I teach and through scaffolded reading and other resources.
Learning from peers and building a community of collaborators is also essential to success in graduate school, so we employ cohort advising models in EPIC, with cohorts of postdoctoral fellows, graduate students and undergraduate students engaging in peer mentoring and supporting one another.
I hope with this information you remain enthusiastic about applying to work with me in EPIC. I also recognize applying for graduate school is costly and if you are not able to afford the cost, you can apply for a need-based waiver to cover the cost of the graduate application fee. For more information on that please check back soon.
How geoscience graduate school funding & admittance work in general
In general, a prospective student is accepted into a geoscience graduate program at a US college or university after their application is approved by both the school’s graduate committee and after a specific professor agrees to accept the primary advising responsibility for the student, which includes a commitment to assure the student is “fully funded”.
Being “fully funded” means MS & PhD students receive a 9- or 12-month salary and have their tuition and research expenses covered by a combination of research grants and working as a teaching assistant for classes taught in that school.
The good news is that this means that most graduate students do not pay out of pocket to pursue research-based geoscience graduate degrees (i.e., a geosci. grad. program where students produce a research-based thesis or dissertation) in the US. The more complicated news is that this means acceptance into this type of graduate school depends on many other things beyond the strength of a student's application, including how many applications a particular professor and graduate program gets each year, how both parties evaluate applications, and how much funding the selected professor (i.e., primary advisor) has available to support graduate students.*
*There are exceptions to this, such as when student bring their own grant or veteran funding and/or the primary advising commitment is made by a group of professors rather than a single one, for example. But these cases are less common.
Another difference between applying to graduate school and applying to college as an undergraduate is that in geoscience graduate school you are applying to work with a specific professor. In addition to accepting the responsibility to ensure that a graduate student is fully funded as described above, that professor will be the primary advisor/mentor for the student's graduate education overall and oversee their research, make recommendations for what classes they take, and advise their professional development overall (including helping build the skills necessary to get a graduate degree and related job in the future overall). This is why this professor is often referred to as the student's "primary advisor". In addition to a primary advisor, geoscience graduate students develop an advising committee composed of multiple professors and/or research professionals after their first semester enrolled in the program.
Because of the important role of the primary advisor in terms of both a student's overall degree experience and ensuring there are means to pay for the student's tuition, salary, benefits and research expenses during their degree, graduate school applicants are often advised to email specific professors (i.e., potential advisors) they are interested in working with before the application deadline in order to try and build a relationship with them. This is not only to ensure that the potential future advisor is aware of the student's application in advance, but also for both the student and advisor to see if they are likely to work well together and if their research interests are aligned. Perhaps such advice is what brought you to this page! While I respect and understand this advice, I handle applications to work in the EPIC lab a bit differently than many professors. Please see additional details about the process I follow in the next section titled "Specifics of Applying to the EPIC Lab".
You can find more detailed information about what is required to apply to the graduate programs in the College of Earth, Ocean & Atmospheric Sciences (CEOAS) at Oregon State University here.
I note that along with the standard application materials, the geology graduate program in CEOAS has an additional set of essay questions on the application, which you can find here. The last essay question asks if you would like to be considered for a graduate teaching assistantship. Unless you are bringing your own funding for graduate school in the form of a grant or scholarship, then the default answer should be "yes" for the reasons I discuss above. The application then asks what qualifications you have for a teaching assistant position, and here you should discuss any experience you have teaching or mentoring in any capacity.
Specifics of applying to work in the EPIC Lab
As discussed in the section above, you may have been advised to reach out to me as a potential advisor prior to OSU's application deadline to try and set up a time to talk one-on-one via email, at a conference or in a video chat. In general this is good advice, as it is important that both parties establish that a potential future advisor has the financial means to bring a new graduate student into their lab, that everyone in the lab will work well together, and that the student and advisor's research interests are well aligned.
What I do differently is that I have these one-on-one conversations after I evaluate all graduate applications to EPIC (so in early Winter) rather than before the application deadline. I have been working this way since Fall 2021 in order to not bias admissions decisions in favor students who received more advice/mentorship, have had more past opportunities, and/or who have connections to me through colleagues. Rather I strive to provide equitable access to graduate opportunities in EPIC for anyone who decides to apply, through sharing information on this webpage, ensuring all applicants having access to the same prior information, and reviewing all applications to EPIC through the same process (see rubric below). In place of one-on-one meetings before the application deadline, I typically host a series of open Zoom Information Sessions each Fall* about graduate school in EPIC and applying to OSU. These sessions are open to anyone and provide you a chance to ask questions about OSU and research in EPIC, as well as hear the responses to questions asked by other participants, with the goal of providing enough context to determine if you are interested in applying to work with me or not.
*Summer 2026 Update: Please check this space in early Fall when I will post the times for these information sessions.
Graduate applications for the College of Earth, Ocean & Atmospheric Science at Oregon State University are due December 15 to start the following Fall**. If you are interested in working with me as your primary advisor, please list me as one of the faculty you would like to work with on your application (you will be asked to list up one or more).
**You can apply for a need-based waiver to cover the cost of the graduate application fee. Please check back here closer to the application deadline for the process of how to apply for a waiver for the Winter 2026-27 application cycle.
After the applications are forwarded by the university to individual faculty (usually late December to early January), I evaluate them all using this rubric. I also note that both the College and I do not use GRE scores to evaluate applicants. Shortly thereafter, I will set up one-on-one virtual meetings via Zoom with the top 25-30% of applicants based on the rubric evaluation to get to know one another better and discuss the potential of joining the EPIC lab. I use the results of these meetings to determine the final applicant(s) for which I will commit to being the primary advisor, which includes a commitment to full funding as discussed above. Sometimes depending on the situation and number of applications that year, I will offer finalists a chance to visit the lab and OSU prior to making my final decision.
Once admitted into the College of Earth, Ocean & Atmospheric Science, accepted students are offered an expenses-paid trip to visit OSU and the EPIC lab prior to making your decision to accept the offer. During these visits prospective students have one-on-one discussions with their potential future advisors, and other graduate students and researchers in the College. These trips usually happen in February-March to provide adequate time for consideration prior to the April 15 decision deadline.
If an admitted applicant decides not to come to ASU prior to the April 15 decision deadline, acceptance into the EPIC lab may be offered to another finalist.
More details about being a graduate student in the EPIC lab
If you haven’t already, have a look around the rest of the EPIC webpage, my personal website, and those of current lab members and lab alumni to get a sense of our work and research interests. MS students in the EPIC lab usually complete one project and PhD students complete a minimum of three projects/chapters for their PhD, sometimes all related, sometimes not. I encourage all of my students to think of a graduate degree as a skill building opportunity (in addition to working on particular engaging scientific questions), and encourage them to build their tool kits to include experimental work, analytical geochemistry + modeling and field work. Thus, if you do you graduate work with me, you’ll likely do some of all of these activities, with the amount of any given one depending on your projects and interests.
As a mentor, I also prioritize building the myriad skills necessary to thrive as a scientist beyond doing the science itself, including effective science communication, grant writing, effective time management, overcoming obstacles, maintaining and prioritizing our mental health in academic environments, improving belonging, accessibility, and equity in the sciences, assessing potential career options and more. We work on these skills in our regular EPIC group meetings, in one-on-one meetings, classes I teach and through scaffolded reading and other resources.
Learning from peers and building a community of collaborators is also essential to success in graduate school, so we employ cohort advising models in EPIC, with cohorts of postdoctoral fellows, graduate students and undergraduate students engaging in peer mentoring and supporting one another.
I hope with this information you remain enthusiastic about applying to work with me in EPIC. I also recognize applying for graduate school is costly and if you are not able to afford the cost, you can apply for a need-based waiver to cover the cost of the graduate application fee. For more information on that please check back soon.
