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The hard life of a field biologist….

 

Our goal during your time in the lab is to get you to where you want to go, whether that is a job in academia, natural systems management, or other scientific careers.

Current position openings:

Our lab commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion

Our lab seeks to recruit, support, and retain members from diverse backgrounds and groups that have historically been underrepresented in the sciences. As a team, we are committed to creating a learning and working environment where individuals feel supported and invested in the lab mission.

How we support our commitments

We provide equal opportunities to applicants for employment regardless of race, religion, ethnicity, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age, disability status, socioeconomic status, or citizenship and immigration status. Our goal is to create a safe lab space and foster an experience that teaches community and team values and provides tools for future careers in academic research.

Please visit our institution’s office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion for further details of our university’s Values.

UC Merced, established very recently (2004!), is skyrocketing. See a recent article that illustrates how UCM is accomplishing its original mission to provide topnotch education and research to an under-served region of California. And UCM has achieved R1 status in record time, making it a top-tier research institution. Join us and come make a difference at this newest UC campus.

Undergraduate Students

Please contact us if you are interested in getting experience in ecological or evolutionary research.

We are always recruiting volunteers to help with the UC Merced Phenology Project.  Contact us if interested in getting involved.

Graduate Students

I currently have no openings for graduate students and am not accepting applications for Fall 2026. Apologies, but email traffic is so heavy that I will likely not respond to your message if you write to me to ask about joining the lab in Fall 2026. 

Information for inquiries during years I am accepting applications: I advise students within the Environmental Systems and Quantitative and Systems Biology Graduate Groups at UC Merced. Check the descriptions of each graduate group, including deadlines and application details, before sending inquiries. Graduate students in our lab pursue a wide variety of research avenues, mainly chosen by the students.  If you are interested in attending graduate school at UC Merced in the Sexton Lab, please send an email to me (jsexton2[at]ucmerced[dot]edu) with the following elements:

  1. Recent CV or resume.
  2. Description of research questions or topics you are interested in pursuing as part of your graduate research, and in which potential ecological-evolutionary system(s) you might pursue them.
  3. A brief summary of why you believe our lab might be a great fit for your research, training, and career interests.

You can view my advising philosophy and advice for professional scientists here:  Sexton_professional_advice_V1.4_2025

Postdoctoral Researchers

Please contact me if you are interested in conducting postdoctoral research within the lab. I am happy to discuss potential projects and fellowship and grant-writing opportunities, including the UC President’s Postdoctoral Fellowship.