Join the lab
Come and work with us!
What the lab is like
The Lab's ethos is to conduct science that sits right at the top of the field, which means choosing big questions over safe ones. Thinking big is difficult, but that is what we pride ourselves on. We start by reading widely: knowing the classics well enough allows you to identify the great unanswered questions; exploring the contemporary literature allows you to identify modern themes, new techniques, and exciting new developments. So, we aim high and I promise to always back you!
I take my role as a mentor very seriously, and I want all of my students to succeed in the areas that they are most passionate. From the start of your graduate career we will draft Individual Development Plans together, creating a framework for how we will work together to allow you to grow and develop towards your professional goals. I am looking for prospective students who have a high degree of independence and enthusiasm for scientific research. My current research interests are broadly twofold: 1) evolutionary community ecology: using field studies of natural selection in the wild to connect eco-evo process at local scales to larger eco-evo patterns across space and time, and 2) thermal physiology of tropical lizards, especially how it relates to climate change and invasive species. However, my research interests across ecology and evolution are very broad; I am particularly interested in connecting micro-process to macro-patterns (across both ecology and evolution). If you have ideas along these lines, or if your own passions lie outside of this but within the general scope of our lab’s aims, then please feel free to discuss them with me.
I keep a full Stroud Lab Handbook with all of the information you'll need to be a productive and valued member of the Lab, including my mentoring commitments to you, and I share it with everyone I invite to interview.
PhD students
Graduate students
Students join through the School of Biological Sciences at Georgia Tech, through Biology, Quantitative Biosciences (QBioS) , or Bioinformatics. Applications are handled by the graduate programme, but write to me before you apply - I only admit people to the lab directly, not via rotations.
Tell me what you find interesting and why, what you want to work on, and how that fits into the Lab. A short, specific email beats a long, generic one. And make sure you attach a CV!
Postdocs
Postdoctoral researchers
I am always glad to hear from prospective postdocs, particularly people interested in developing their own line of work within the lab's themes. Get in touch early if you are thinking about a fellowship, since the good ones close a long way in advance and the proposal is better when we write it together.
There are two paths to postdoc opportunities in my lab. First, I may have some funding to directly support a postdoc in my lab--please enquire to find out if that's the case at the moment. Second, I can help you develop proposals for external fellowship support, such as the NSF postdoctoral research fellowships in biology (PRFB) which offers an $85,000/year stipend and $25,000/year research and training funds. I would be very excited to discuss research ideas with you for these opportunities!
Undergraduates
Georgia Tech undergraduates
We take undergraduate researchers every semester, and several have gone on to publish peer-reviewed scientific papers and to present their research at international meetings. If you are a Georgia Tech student and this interests you, email me!
Everyone is welcome here
Everyone in this lab deserves patience, generosity, and basic kindness. Harassment, discrimination, or condescension toward anyone, including labmates, collaborators, and the staff and field crews who make our work possible, has no place here and will not be tolerated. A team only works when people feel safe and valued in it.