The Coastal Fisheries and Seascape Ecology labs at Florida International University, in Miami, FL have 2 open PhD positions For Fall 2026.
Application deadline: December 1, 2025 or February 1, 2026 (program specific-see below)
About the positions: We seek 2 motivated students with a passion for coastal recreational fisheries, and their movement and foraging ecology. Research will focus on the movement of recreational fisheries in coastal Everglades habitats, how these recreational fisheries track resources and hydroclimatic heterogeneity across riverscapes and seascapes, and the implications of these responses for fisheries sustainability, Everglades restoration and climate change. Research will combine acoustic telemetry, stable isotopes, prey studies and habitat mapping on Common Snook, coastal Largemouth Bass and juvenile Tarpon. Graduate work will also be conducted in collaboration with the Florida Coastal Everglades Long Term Ecological Research Program (FCE LTER; http://fcelter.fiu.edu/). Competitive support will be a combination of research & teaching assistantships.
Preferred qualifications: The ideal candidate has a strong interest and experience in fish ecology, recreational fisheries and spatial/movement/trophic ecology, excellent writing and quantitative skills, and previous lab and field fish/fisheries experience. A Master’s degree, experience coding in R, and prior publications are a plus.
About our labs: We are an energetic team of ecologists interested in understanding how fishes and recreational fisheries interact with seascapes and track resource and hydroclimatic heterogeneity. Our sister labs are led by Dr. Jenn Rehage, fish ecologist, and Dr. Rolando Santos, seascape ecologist. Our approach to tackling fisheries-seascape research questions focuses on both understanding process and pattern, and we thrive in conducting studies that blend these to inform management, conservation, and restoration efforts in partnership with stakeholders, coproducing science that is both fundamental, solutions-oriented & actionable. https://seascapes-fiu.github.io/our_lab.html and https://myweb.fiu.edu/rehagej/
To apply: Please email Dr. Jenn Rehage at rehagej@fiu.edu and Dr. Rolando Santos at rsantosc@fiu.edu. In your email, please include:
1) a cover letter (describing research interests, experience, and fit to our labs),
2) CV
3) other supporting documents as needed (unofficial transcripts, publications/presentations, popular writing samples, etc.).
Please combine these materials into a single PDF and use ‘PhD applicant 2026 + your name’ as the subject line in your email. We advise students through the Biology and Earth & Environment Departments (Deadlines for application are December 1, 2025 for Biology and February 1, 2026 for Earth & Env – please see: https://case.fiu.edu/earth-environment/phd-in-earth-systems-science/index.html and https://case.fiu.edu/biology/students/graduate-programs/phd-in-biology/admissions/index.html for additional details).