Graduate Student Position

Graduate Student Position (M.S. or Ph.D.):
Multi-Stressor Toxicogenomics in Marine and Estuarine Organisms
Griffitt Marine Ecotoxicology Lab, The University of Texas at Austin, Marine Science Institute (Port Aransas, TX)

The Griffitt Lab in the Department of Marine Science at UT Austin is seeking an M.S. or Ph.D. student to start in Fall 2027. Our research asks how chemical contaminants interact with climate-relevant environmental stressors to affect the health of coastal organisms. The contaminants we study include PFAS, pharmaceuticals, and petroleum hydrocarbons. The stressors include temperature, salinity, hypoxia, and ocean acidification.

We focus on the molecular mechanisms behind these interactions, using toxicogenomic approaches in sheepshead minnow (Cyprinodon variegatus), eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica), and red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus).

The specific research topic is open. It will be developed with the student based on their interests and the lab’s ongoing work. The project will combine multiple-stressor exposure experiments with toxicogenomic analysis.

The student will be among the first to use our new multi-stressor exposure facility at UTMSI, which is expected to be operational in early 2027. The facility consists of eight independently controlled modules with replicated tanks. Each module can control temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, pCO, and contaminant delivery at the same time, in flow-through configurations. This allows realistic, fully crossed multi-stressor designs that are difficult to run anywhere else.

A B.S. (for M.S. applicants) or B.S./M.S. (for Ph.D. applicants) in biology, marine science, toxicology, environmental science, or a related field.

A minimum 3.0 GPA in upper-division coursework.

Preferred: experience in one or more of molecular biology (RNA extraction, qPCR, sequencing library preparation), aquatic toxicology, live animal husbandry, or data analysis.