Department of Earth and Environmental Science

Benjamin P Horton

Graduate Opportunities within the Sea Level Research Laboratory, Department of Earth and Environmental Science, University of Pennsylvania

The Sea-level Research Laboratory seeks to recruit elite postgraduate students, both Masters and Doctoral, in geological research. Fully funded fellowships from 12 to 48 duration are available. We provide a supportive environment to inspire students with a focus on high quality research, using a state-of-the-art suite of facilities that are amongst the best available in any USA department. We are particularly keen to see research proposals and applications in the following areas: 

Quaternary sea-level change and ice-sheet volume: Projects will aim to correlate Quaternary sea-level records from the Atlantic Coast of the United States, the Caribbean and Indo-Pacific with lengthy ocean and ice core records of ice sheet volume to understand better the linkages and driving mechanisms between these depositional environments.

Global to local relative sea-level change during the last 1000 years: Projects aim to develop high-resolution sea-level records from the last millennia that can be directly compared with historical documentation, and observational data from more recent climate, oceanographic, and geodetic surveys. Study areas include the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the United States, Bay of Biscay and New South Wales, Australia.

 The role of earthquakes, tsunamis and storms as driving mechanisms of Quaternary relative sea-level change and coastal evolution: Project will aim to quantify estimates of the impacts of earthquakes, tsunamis and storms on fluxes of sediment between ocean, coast and the hinterland. Study areas include the Pacific coast of North America and the Indian Ocean.

Wetland response to natural and anthropogenic forcing: This research will provide a regional perspective for identification of common patterns in wetland distribution and hydrology. These projects could provide insight into how wetlands developed in response to natural climate variation and also document the natural evolution of the specific wetland communities. Areas for research include New South Wales, Australia and the Everglades National Park.

For further information, please contact Ben Horton