Ocean Climate Lab

Information for Prospective Students & Postdoctoral Scholars

For Prospective Postdoctoral Scholars: I am open to mentoring, co mentoring, or collaborating with postdoctoral scholars. Please consider the UC President’s Postdoctoral Fellowship Program, the NSF Ocean Sciences Postdoc, or the NOAA Global Change Postdoctoral Program as you investigate funding sources.

Prospective Graduate Students

The Ocean Climate Lab will be not be accepting students in the Fall 2025 (for students beginning Fall 2026) admissions cycle.

In case you are planning ahead for a future year, I have put some frequently requested info below for years that I am accepting students. Please review these prior to contacting Tessa to discuss your graduate interests.

• I am open to accepting M.S. or Ph.D. students.

  • I am also open to co-advising students at UCD. If you are considering the San Diego State University Joint Doc program with UCD, I am open to serving as a UC Davis co-mentor for students in that program. My lab is also open to students who are in need of a “rotation” as part of their degree program.

• I am interested in independent, creative students who are interested in a current research theme in our lab, and developing ideas that creatively extend within & from those.

• Students will need to be willing and interested in submitting fellowship applications and/or working with me on grant writing, and be able to TA as needed to supplement support as we get these projects going.

• My research is split between the UC Davis campus and Bodega Marine Laboratory. The majority of my research support, space, and staff are at Bodega Marine Laboratory. Prospective students should carefully consider whether working at a remote field facility is a good fit for their interests.

• I will accept students through the Earth & Planetary Sciences graduate program

  • There is a wealth of very good information on applying to graduate school on this EPS website, as well as in this Coastal & Marine Sciences blog.

MENTORING PHILOSOPHY

As a mentor to students, postdoctoral scholars, technicians, and undergraduates, I aim to:

• Help develop a project of interest and see that project through to a successful completion

• Manage and learn from the ups and downs of scientific inquiry

• Provide experiences and expertise necessary to pursue a range of potential career paths

• Provide opportunities to develop technical skills, communication skills, professional development, laboratory skills, and problem-solving

• Tailor these goals and approaches to the needs of the individual while maintaining a positive collective laboratory environment.

Students in the lab

One of the most rewarding and exciting aspects of our lab group is that there are many different students with unique interests and career plans; therefore we are open to a wide range of students who are interested in interdisciplinary work.

Students in this research group come from a range of undergraduate backgrounds (marine science, geology, biology, along with other disciplines including social sciences). I accept both M.S. and Ph.D. students. Ph.D. students often come in with an M.S. and/or some research or work experience prior to applying, but not always. Some projects require fieldwork (or provide opportunities for fieldwork for interested students); other projects can be entirely laboratory or data synthesis based. I aim to make the science we do as accessible and tailored to the interests of each student as possible.