Natural Resources Job Board

PI Sabrina McNew is recruiting prospective MS and PhD students to join the graduate program in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Arizona. Our lab is a collaborative, diverse, and hard-working group that is fascinated by birds and their parasites and pathogens. We employ diverse methods to learn more about host-parasite interactions including: field ecology, captive experiments, genomics, immunology, and statistical analyses. 

We currently have funding for projects in three areas: 

a) MS project (starting January 2026) studying nestling welfare in response to Philornis parasitism in the Galapagos, co-supervised with Sabine Tebbich (University of Vienna). Requirements: interest in international field work, advanced/native Spanish or German

b) PhD project (starting August 2026) studying ecology and evolution of Galapagos birds in response to parasitism. Requirements: interest in international field work, advanced/native Spanish, interest or experience in genomics. 

c) PhD project (starting August 2026) studying host-parasite interactions in Sonoran birds. Requirements: interest in field work, experience working with birds or parasites. 

·      …have prior experience working with wild birds and/or parasites, but don’t necessarily have any particular skills.

·      …have a strong conceptual foundation in the fields of ecology and evolution. 

·      …be able to articulate clear and interesting research ideas and have a good sense of what graduate school will be like. 

·      … be self-motivated but looking for a collaborative and supportive research environment. 

·      …have strong and clear overlap with their interests and those of the McNew Lab.

·      PhD students in our program are guaranteed five years of TA support, and students in the lab are highly successful at applying for fellowships. 

·      We have funding to support exciting, ambitious projects within the scope of our mission. 

·      We promote a highly collaborative, team-oriented lab that includes opportunities to build mentoring skills and learn from other researchers at multiple career stages. 

·      The EEB Department at the University of Arizona is one of the oldest and most respected Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Departments in the US.

·      Tucson, Arizona is a culturally diverse, livable city with lots of great birds and access to outdoor recreation. 

For more information please visit mcnewlab.com/contact