Why?

Having been in academia for 10+ years, I have collaborated with inspiring students and early-career researchers (i.e., postdocs) and I am amazed at the depth of talent, passion, curiosity, and dedication they bring to a project and broader community. My main objective as a mentor is to motivate advisees and help them discover research interests. This is so they can mature into independent scientists with a diverse skill set ready for the job market. I strive to have collaborative relationships with my graduate students and postdocs where I am not the sole proprietor of knowledge, but where we learn from each other, generate new research ideas together, conduct fieldwork cooperatively and alongside collaborators, and write proposals and manuscripts together. This approach is meant to facilitate a relationship of mutual respect and trust that fosters professional confidence and encourages critical-thinking and creativity.

I feel that mentoring graduate students and postdocs is the most important component of my research program. Thus, I will commit a significant amount of time and energy in helping young scientists to develop their research projects, from initial ideas and planning through to field work, analyses, manuscript writing, conference presentations, and outreach. I try to provide lab members with the time, space, resources, and opportunities for them to evolve scientifically and personally, and succeed in their respective fields. Members of our group are fortunate to work in a culture here at URI that recognizes and rewards interdisciplinary research that addresses real-world problems. We use a mentoring plan to help set goals and keep on track.

Some things the graduate students and postdocs are currently working on:

·       analyzing time series data — both fishery-dependent and fishery-independent data

·       building models with publicly available data on fish consumption for coastal communities

·       scientific SCUBA diving to count fish underwater on coral reefs

·       collecting fisheries landings data in the field from artisanal fishers

·       building fish population dynamics models in R

·       conducting household surveys to measure dietary diversity

In our group we work together to develop a productive, supportive, diverse, and collaborative research team that operates in a welcoming collegial atmosphere. We value equity and diversity as essential characteristics of an open, accepting, inclusive, and heterogeneous academic community. Therefore, I encourage underrepresented students who are interested in our lab, including -but not limited to - Black, Hispanic/Latino, Asian, Native American and students of color, to apply.

How?

To learn more about our work environment, research interests, and what we are up to, please explore this website and the links within. If you have any inquiries about our work, please don’t hesitate to email me (Austin) or contact any past or present members of our research group. If you are still interested in joining our research group after having read this information, go ahead and send me an email (humphries@uri.edu) in which you (i) introduce yourself through a CV or a short paragraph, and (ii) include a brief written statement mentioning your current research experience and interests, your future career goals, and the reasons why you are considering joining our lab and believe you are a good fit. If our interests seem to match, I would be happy to have a discussion with you.

If you are interested in graduate (MS and PhD) opportunities and would like to sign up for our email list that advertises openings, please see this link. If you are interested in postdoc opportunities you can sign up here.