Prospective Students

Although the Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory is a center for research rather than an academic department, it participates actively in the educational mission of Colorado State University. Staff members teach courses in university departments and supervise graduate and postgraduate research.

Over the last five years, NREL has supported 26 graduate students and 14 postdoctoral fellows with funds derived from research grants. Some graduate students at NREL receive outside support. For example, NREL scientists often undertake responsibility for the graduate education of students who arrive with their own funding but no adviser, just as departmental faculty members do. While at the Laboratory, these individuals have the opportunity to work closely with active researchers, both staff members and visiting scientists. They have access to excellent computing and analytical facilities and technical support, attend and make presentations at national meetings, and participate in the process of writing grant proposals and papers for publication.

How to Apply for Graduate Study at NREL

 

 

The NREL has through its relatively brief history been among the elite research institutions in ecosystems science. This success derives largely from the close working relationships among students and between senior scientists and students at the laboratory. The NREL fosters an open exchange of ideas among scientists with diverse backgrounds and research interests that often is not available in traditional university departments. My closest professional contacts and most enduring views of the conduct and theory of ecology were developed while at the laboratory. All four of the graduate students with whom I shared office space at NREL are highly-successful and influential contributors to their disciplines in ecology."

Wayne Polley, USDA/ARS,
Grassland, Soil & Water Research Lab.,
Temple, TX
 

The Natural and Environmental Sciences Building