We are always seeking collaborators excited about understanding patterns and mechanisms of plant variation. The Fishman Lab aims to be an welcoming and stimulating environment to learn new skills, explore the natural world, and think deeply about the evolutionary processes that generate flowering plant diversity.
If you are interested in joining the Fishman Lab, please email lila.fishman@mso.umt.edu.
Postdocs
We are not currently advertising any fully-funded postdoc positions, but have some flexibility to support 1+ year of postdoc on projects related to meiotic drive, chromosomal evolution, and speciation for an unusually prepared and motivated candidate. Please contact Dr. Fishman directly via emal if interested in discussing this opportuntity.
Dr. Fishman is also happy to work closely with postdocs on the development of competitive fellowship proposals (PRFB, Simons, etc., EPSCOR Fellows) in any relevant area of plant evolutionary genomics. Because most postdoc fellowship programs have time-limited eligibility (e.g., maximum 9-12 months tenure as a postdoc), please contact us to discuss ideas in advance of PhD defense and proposal deadlines.
Monkeyflowers have amazing resources (so many awesome new genomes!) and many axes of trait and genome variation to explore! So, we welcome postdoc-initiated projects!
Graduate students
Students in the Fishman Lab work on a broad range of questions across plant evolutionary genetics and genomics. I advise both MS and PhD candidates and (when possible) partially support all students on RAship (generally, ~1/2 semesters), regardless of project. For PhD students, my philosophy is to encourage exploration of several possible dissertation projects (via data collection, training in methods, etc.) in the first year rather than direct students into a pre-existing one.
Prospective grad students should initiate contact by mid-Fall before application date to discuss shared interests. The EE program admission process (applications due 12/1) involves screening of applications by a committee and then in-person interviews of top candidates (travel paid by EE). But applicants are admitted into an EE home lab (no rotation process); so it is very important to contact Lila in advance before formally applying to the program.
In addition, we encourage all eligible applicants to strongly consider writing an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship proposal (due in mid-October) prior to applying to UM. If you are potentially headed for a research career, grantwriting is one of the most important skills to practice, and we are committed to helping prospective students develop ideas in our systems and hone theri GRF proposals. NSF strongly encourages applications prior to graduate school admission and the University of Montana also recently gained additional mechanisms to provide fellowship support to those receiving GRF honorable mentions.
Undergraduates
Undergraduate students interested in pursuing mentored research for Honors thesis or independent research credit should contact Lila (lila.fishman@mso.umt.edu) to discuss ideas and opportunities. Recent student projects have spanned everything from physiological assays and genomic mapping to studies of plant movement and plant-fungal interactions, and frequently result in co-authorship of scientific papers. If you are interested in plants and/or evolution/genetics/genomics, motivated to learn, and curious about doing science, do not hesitate to contact me!!! We do not expect prior research experience -- that's what college is for!
In addition, we often have paid positions for lab and/or greenhouse assistants. Work-study applicants are particularly encouraged to contact us, and there may be opportunities for summer field assistantships (fieldwork in Yellowstone NP or Oregon) once trained.