**Brian Gaylord has retired and is no longer taking additional graduate students.
Interested in joining the Gaylord Lab?
We are a lively, cohesive group of hard-working scientists and students interested in interactions between marine organisms and their physical environments. We focus on questions that span multiple levels of organization, from individuals to populations and communities. We mesh field work, laboratory experiments, and theoretical modeling. If you think you might be interested in some of the things you see on our pages, please feel free to email or call us!
We embrace a variety of backgrounds
Certain components of our research extend into arenas of engineering (particularly mechanical or civil engineering). Thus, although most current lab members are card-carrying biologists and ecologists, we are open to students who have other backgrounds and/or who might have a more quantitative bent. Indeed, we use math and equations on a daily basis. That said, the ability to think deeply and logically about issues, and a willingness to “beat one’s head” against tough problems are more important than high-powered math skills. We are an interdisciplinary group and often work as an intellectual (as well as logistical) team in addressing topics that span multiple fields. Very rarely is someone completely on their own when it comes to confronting challenging research questions or hurdles.
Where we are
Our lab is located in Bodega Bay, California, a little fishing village and resort town situated along the rugged, wave-exposed Sonoma coast. This location places us two hours from the UC Davis main campus. Practically speaking, entering graduate students typically spend the first year living on or near main campus, taking classes to satisfy degree requirements for their graduate program. Students then transition in their second year to full-time residence at BML where they begin focusing much more intensely on research. BML-resident students and faculty still transit routinely over to main campus, of course. In this regard, individuals exploit and/or confront the benefits and challenges of our proximity to the coast (and distance from Davis) in any number of ways.
Nuts and bolts
If you are considering applying to graduate school, your first step should be to contact Brian directly via the email address on our lab people page. Graduate school admissions operate differently than undergraduate admissions, and it is crucial for you to develop a direct line of communication. Brian’s motivation for wanting to talk and meet with you is to better understand your interests and experiences as they relate to the goals and interests of the lab as a whole. From your end, you’ll want to make sure that our lab is a place you think you could spend the next several years of your life! Assuming everything goes as planned, the next step is to submit your application to UC Davis, through the Graduate Group in Ecology (GGE). The deadline is around the middle of December. Many students apply for National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships, which have their own deadlines.