Open menu
swoosh

PH.D. Student Assistantship, University of Southern Mississippi

Understanding Drivers of Change in Seagrass Ecosystems to Inform Management
of Critical Habitats in the Gulf Islands National Seashore

We seek a highly motivated student to fill a funded Ph.D. assistantship at The University of Southern
Mississippi’s Gulf Coast Research Laboratory in Ocean Springs, MS. The selected student will be coadvised by Dr. Zachary Darnell and Dr. Kelly Darnell. This assistantship will begin in Summer 2026.
The assistantship will be centered on a recently funded project to identify and monitor long-term trends
and variability in seagrass-dominated ecosystems in the Gulf Islands National Seashore and identify
drivers of change in biodiversity and productivity of these systems to address knowledge gaps and
uncertainties prioritized by resource managers. The project will involve substantial field sampling for
seagrass and seagrass-associated nekton across the Gulf Islands National Seashore in Florida and
Mississippi, as well as laboratory sample processing and analyses of existing long-term datasets.
Experience working in seagrass beds and familiarity with coastal nekton communities is preferred but
not required. This is a collaborative project with researchers at multiple academic institutions and
stakeholders from multiple agencies including the National Park Service.
The student selected for this position will pursue a Ph.D. degree in the Division of Coastal Sciences
within the School of Ocean Science and Engineering (SOSE). The assistantship includes tuition and a
stipend of $28,500 per year for a duration of 5 years. The student selected for the assistantship will be
a fully integrated member of the project team and will contribute to study design, collection and
analysis of data, and manuscript preparation. Applicants with an M.S. degree are preferred.
The Division of Coastal Sciences is a research and graduate education unit within SOSE, which offers
graduate and undergraduate degree programs in Coastal Sciences, Hydrographic Science, Marine
Biology, Marine Science, and Ocean Engineering. The faculty and staff of SOSE leverage its location
on the Gulf Coast and expertise in marine and coastal science and engineering to address challenges
facing coastal and marine environments. SOSE has significant research infrastructure and facilities
across four principal sites spanning the Mississippi Gulf Coast: the NASA Stennis Space Center, the
Gulf Park Campus at Long Beach, the Roger F. Wicker Center for Ocean Enterprise at the Port of
Gulfport, and the Gulf Coast Research Laboratory in Ocean Springs. This position will be located in
Ocean Springs at the Gulf Coast Research Laboratory, a marine laboratory featuring comprehensive
research programs in coastal and marine biological sciences. Research program support includes stateof-the-art laboratory facilities and instrumentation; a fleet of small and large research vessels; the
GCRL Museum collection; facilities at the Center for Fisheries Research and Development (CFRD)
and Thad Cochran Marine Aquaculture Center (TCMAC); and the NSF I/UCRC Science Center for
Marine Fisheries. Ocean Springs is a small, coastal town known for its beauty, natural resources, and
vibrant arts community. It is home to galleries, restaurants, and schools that are ranked among the best
in the state.

Contact Information

Zachary Darnell
zachary.darnell@usm.edu

Share This Listing

Upcoming Events

View Calendar