For Interested Students

Thank you for your interest in the University of Wisconsin-Madison and learning more about the research that takes place in the Kucharik lab that is housed between the Department of Agronomy and The Nelson Institute Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment (or SAGE). My research group roughly consists of five to eight M.S. and Ph.D. students and two to three undergraduates working in both a field experimental setting and using numerical ecosystem models and observational datasets to better understand the influence of changing climate and land management on ecosystem services. Our interests include carbon cycling and sequestration in prairie ecosystems and agricultural landscapes, water quantity and quality, the impact of alternative biofuel cropping systems on carbon, water, and energy exchange, and how Midwest crop yields are affected by climate change and farmer management. While my research has a predominant geographic focus in the central U.S., my students have previously used numerical models at the global scale, and we have collaborated with colleagues throughout the U.S., Canada, Brazil, and Europe.

All of my graduate students are usually funded as research assistants working on grants that I have received funding for (examples of funding sources are The U.S. Dept. of Energy, NASA, The National Science Foundation, USDA, Madison Gas and Electric, and Wisconsin Focus on Energy). Undergraduates working in my lab typically perform research as part of independent study (e.g., Biology 152) or as part of their senior thesis. Graduate students that work with me on ecosystem modeling projects and other investigations using land-use and climate datasets are typically based in SAGE, while those that are involved in field research are based in the Department of Agronomy where my cropping systems ecology lab is located. The majority of my field research takes place across the agricultural landscapes of southern Wisconsin, and often at the Arlington Agricultural Research Station, just about 20 miles north of the city of Madison.

I can advise students enrolled in the Department of Agronomy, the Agroecology program, the Nelson Institute's Environment & Resources (E&R) program, the Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences (AOS), and the Limnology and Marine Science (LMS) program. All programs offer M.S. and Ph.D. degrees with the exception of Agroecology, which is a M.S. program only. I am also affiliated with the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center (GLBRC), and my faculty position is part of the new Wisconsin Bioenergy Initiative (WBI).

If you think you might be a potentially good fit for my lab, I encourage you to send me an email with the following information: 1) the department(s)/programs you are applying to; 2) your resume or c.v.; 3) a brief statement on your research interests and/or goals as well as your future career plans.

Thank you for taking the time to read about my interests and work and all of the great things going on at the Department of Agronomy, SAGE, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Take care,
Chris Kucharik