The Williams Lab for Microbial Ecology and Environmental Biotechnology in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Michigan State University is seeking applicants for 2 funded Ph.D. positions beginning Spring 2026 - Fall 2026. Students will work on a range of projects including the development of next generation wastewater treatment systems to remove emerging contaminants and pathogens, exploring the evolution and dissemination of antimicrobial resistance in diverse waste streams, evaluating process technologies for the treatment and removal of antimicrobial resistance genes, and development of reactors and processes for microbial-mediated extraction of critical metals from waste.
The ideal candidate will have:
- B.S. or M.S. degree in environmental engineering or a related field
- A strong background in microbial genomics methods such as next-generation and long-read sequencing, bioinformatics, DNA/RNA extraction, and RT-qPCR
- Experience with microbial culture and waste treatment using diverse reactor configurations and processes, other analytical methodologies including HPLC, GC-MS, LC-MS/MS, etc, and data analysis using machine learning
- A record of prior research and publishing activities
- Excellent communication and inter-personal skills
- A passion for science!
Interested candidates should contact Dr. Maggie Williams at kronlei2@msu.edu with a cover letter and CV. For quickest response, please including “PhD student application” in the subject line. Review of applications will begin immediately.