Current Research Opportunities

Look through the Research Opportunities for M.Sc. and Ph.D. positions below to see the exciting positions that are available to incoming students in the Environmental & life Sciences Graduate Program! You are encouraged to contact the faculty member directly.  If you have any questions, please contact enlsgrad@trentu.ca.

MSc and PhD positions

View the open positions listed below.  Please contact the supervisor listed in the posting.  If you have additional questions please reach out to the ENLS Graduate Program office: enlsgrad@trentu.ca

MSc and PhD positions in plant-soil interactions, nutrient cycling, and nature-based solutions to climate change in agroecosystems

Position:

MSc and PhD

Supervisors:

Dr. Kira Borden

Start Date: 

ONGOING

Brief Description: 

Fully funded MSc and PhD positions are available to start between September 2025 and May 2026. Successful applicants will lead exciting new research projects at Trent Experimental Farm and on working farms in the Peterborough area and the Greater Toronto Area.
Prospective students with an interest in agri-environmental sciences, plant and soil science, and biogeochemistry are encouraged to contact Dr. Kira Borden (kiraborden@trentu.ca) and visit the lab website at (kiraborden.com) for more information. Please send your CV, copy of transcripts, and names of two references.

Website: kiraborden.com

Full Description: Click Here for the full Description

MSc and PhD positions - Geochemical carbon dioxide removal for climate change mitigation

Position:

MSc  and PhD

Supervisors:

Dr. Ian Power, Trent School of the Environment

Start Date: 

Ongoing

Brief Description: 

In Canada, combustion sources at mines account for ~6 Mt CO2/yr, agriculture contributes ~67 Mt CO2/yr, and forests are net carbon sources. In addition to reducing these and other greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, carbon dioxide (CO2) removal from the atmosphere is necessary to abate hard to reduce emissions and mitigate climate change. Geochemical processes that sequester CO2, including weathering and mineralization, can be accelerated in mining environments using mine wastes, agricultural fields and forests using mineral amendments, and engineered systems using reactive mineral oxides. While these approaches offer enormous capacities to capture and securely store CO2, there are uncertainties relating to the rates of CO2 removal that can be achieved, verification and quantification of carbon storage, cobenefits (e.g., improved plant growth), and environmental concerns (e.g., metal release).

Full Description: Click Here for the full Description

MSc and PhD - Global Change Ecology

Position:

MSc and PhD

Supervisors:

Dr. Andrew Tanentzap and Dr. Erik Emilson

Start Date: 

Ongoing

Brief Description: 

The Ecosystems and Global Change Group (www.ecosystemchange.com) at Trent University jointly led by Prof Andrew Tanentzap (Canada Research Chair in Climate Change and Northern Ecosystems) and Dr Erik Emilson (Research Scientist, Canadian Forest Service sector of Natural Resources Canada, (https://glfc-wet.github.io) is recruiting MSc/PhD students at the intersect of ecosystem ecology, microbiology, and geochemistry in northern waters and soils.

Full Description: Click Here for the full Description

MSc and PhD- Woodland caribou Conservation

Position:

MSc and PhD

Supervisors:

Dr. Glen Brown

Start Date: 

Ongoing

Brief Description: 

Woodland caribou conservation - The graduate student projects will use long-term forest inventory and animal observation information (abundance surveys & telemetry) to: 1) assess the effectiveness of forest management to support caribou conservation through maintenance or creation of functional habitat for caribou and assessment of caribou response; 2) characterize population structure in relation to adaptive responses of caribou to varying habitat conditions.

Website: Brown Ecology Lab

MSc and PhD positions- Canada goose movement ecology

Position:

MSc and PhD

Supervisors:

Dr. Glen Brown

Start Date: 

Ongoing

Brief Description: 

Canada goose movement ecology – Use of high-resolution telemetry information to assess patterns and causes of movement strategies and distributions across the breeding, migratory and non-breeding ranges of geese that breed in the Hudson Bay Lowlands, Canada. Supports international partnerships between Canada and the United States under the North American Waterfowl Management Plan.

Website: Brown Ecology Lab

MSc and PhD- Climate change, wildlife, and their habitat near the arctic-boreal ecotone

Position:

MSc and PhD

Supervisors:

Dr. Glen Brown

Start Date: 

Ongoing

Brief Description: 

Climate change, wildlife, and their habitat near the arctic-boreal ecotone - 1) food web interactions involving terrestrial vertebrates and how wildlife habitat is affected by changes in permafrost; 2) water bird behavior and breeding success in relation to climate, habitat and predation risk. E.g. dunlin, whimbrel, Hudsonian Godwit, and Canada geese.

Website: Brown Ecology Lab

PhD positions

View the open positions listed below.  Please contact the supervisor listed in the posting.  If you have additional questions please reach out to the ENLS Graduate Program office: enlsgrad@trentu.ca

PhD positions- Ecology of Lake and River Ecosystems

Position:

PhD positions

Supervisors:

Dr. Maggie Xenopoulos and Dr. Paul Frost

Start Date: 

Ongoing

Brief Description: 

Graduate PhD positions are available in the Laboratory of Freshwater Ecology at Trent University in Peterborough, Ontario to conduct ecological research on lakes and rivers. Research for these positions could range from nutrient effects on animal nutrition and food webs to landscape studies of carbon and nutrients. Field work for these positions could include projects in the Great Lakes and their watersheds, central Ontario in cottage country and the Experimental Lakes Area in northwestern Ontario. These graduate positions are funded at the PhD level but we will consider exceptional M.Sc. candidates who are interested in converting to a PhD. Students will be enrolled in the Environmental & Life Sciences Graduate Program at Trent University which takes in new students in January, May and September each year. This posting will remain open until all positions are filled.

Full Description: Click Here for the full Description

PhD positions- Ecology of Lake and River Ecosystems

Position:

PhD positions

Supervisors:

Dr. Maggie Xenopoulos 

Start Date: 

Ongoing

Brief Description: 

Graduate Ph.D. positions are available to contribute to on-going ecological research on rivers in the Laboratory of Freshwater Ecology at Trent University in Peterborough, Ontario and as part of a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Global Change of Aquatic Ecosystems. Research for these positions could range from food web responses to environmental stress to landscape studies of carbon and nutrients. Field work for these positions could include the Great Lakes basin and central Ontario in cottage country.

Full Description: Click Here for the full Description