Funded Masters Program in Avian Ecology and Remote Sensing at Cal Poly Pomona USA

Most ecology master’s offers ask you to choose between birds in the field and satellites on a screen. This one wants both. The Scordato Lab at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona is recruiting one master’s student to study how native plant restoration and landscape-level vegetation structure shape bird communities in a Southern California agroecosystem. The role sits inside the SPACES Institute, a NASA-funded effort that joins on-the-ground biodiversity surveys with remote sensing.

The funded master’s position in avian ecology and remote sensing is listed on the Texas A&M Natural Resources Job Board and runs through the Biological Sciences master’s program at Cal Poly Pomona. Review of applications begins November 13, 2026. The expected start is Fall 2027. The salary starts at $28,000 per year, the appointment is funded for two years, and a third year is possible. Hours are at least 20 per week.

If you want a thesis that can move from orchard edges to lidar canopies, and from point counts to a paper with your name on it, this is one of the clearer 2027 ecology openings currently posted.

Scholarship Summary

• Host Country: USA
• Host University: California State Polytechnic University, Pomona (Cal Poly Pomona)
• Scholarship Category: Masters Scholarships
• Eligible Country: All Countries. Not restricted in the listing; a valid U.S. driver’s license is required, and international applicants should confirm admission and visa eligibility with the program
• Scholarship Benefits: Salary starting at $28,000 per year for two years, etc.
• Scholarship Deadline: November 13, 2026

Why This Project is Different From a Standard Wildlife Assistantship

Agricultural landscapes are where a large share of the world’s remaining wildlife now lives, and Southern California is an unusually sharp version of that problem. Orchards, riparian strips, suburbs, and national forest sit next to each other. Birds use all of them. Farmers and conservation groups need to know which plantings and which landscape patterns actually support native species, not just which ones look green from the road.

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The student will study avian communities across spatial scales. There is room to build an independent question, but every project is expected to include field point counts and remote sensing products. That combination is the point of the SPACES Institute, which links faculty at Cal Poly Pomona, the University of California, Santa Barbara, and University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources. The wider aim is to improve biodiversity in working landscapes by pairing farmer partners and conservation nonprofits with data they can use.

You can read the lab’s research scope on the Scordato Lab site and the institute overview at the SPACES Institute. The graduate program context is on the Cal Poly Pomona Biological Sciences graduate studies page.

What you would actually work with:

• More than four years of longitudinal data on bird community structure
• Arthropod community data from the same system
• Newly collected high-resolution lidar and hyperspectral data
• Existing NASA remote sensing products
• Field point counts in a working agricultural landscape
• An interdisciplinary team that already includes ecologists, remote-sensing scientists, and extension partners

The master’s student is expected to work on all parts of the project, collaborate with that team, and lead preparation of at least one peer-reviewed manuscript. That last item matters. A funded seat that also expects first-author writing is more useful for a later PhD application, agency job, or conservation career than a technician role that never reaches a paper.

What the Funding Actually Covers

The official listing is specific, and it is worth reading that way. The position is funded. The salary starts at $28,000 per year. Support is for two years, with a possible third year. The time commitment is at least 20 hours per week. The start is Fall 2027, listed on the job board as after May 10, 2027.

The posting does not say that tuition, campus fees, or health insurance are included. Some reposts describe this opening as fully funded with tuition and insurance. That language is not in the original announcement. Email Elizabeth Scordato at escordato@cpp.edu and ask directly about fee coverage, summer salary, and whether the $28,000 figure is a 9-month or 12-month rate. A clear answer on those three points changes the real value of the offer.

Professional development is part of the role. The lab does substantial public outreach, including blogs, reports, and other material for the farming community. Applicants who like explaining science to non-specialists will find that built into the work, not added later.

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Who Should Apply For Funded Master’s Position in Avian Ecology and Remote Sensing at Cal Poly Pomona

Required qualifications are short and non-negotiable:

• A bachelor’s degree in biology, ecology, environmental science, wildlife biology, or a similar field
• Strong writing and quantitative skills
• A valid U.S. driver’s license

Preferred qualifications are listed, and the lab explicitly says not to skip the application if you lack them:

• Avian point-count experience, or strong identification skills for Southern California birds
• Field research experience, including work in difficult conditions
• Familiarity with R, Python, or both
• Experience with geospatial data

The competitive profile they describe is behavioral as much as technical. They want someone who stays flexible and communicative during hard fieldwork, who likes analysis and writing, and who is willing to talk about the science with farmers and the public. No prior experience is required on the job board. A finished bachelor’s degree is.

Nationality is not listed as a limit. The driver’s license requirement is. International applicants should confirm graduate admission rules, funding eligibility, and visa timing with the Biological Sciences program before they treat this as an open global scholarship. Fall 2027 is far enough away for a visa process, but only if admission and funding are settled early.

How the Science Fits a Career in Wildlife and Remote Sensing

Birds in farms are a high-demand research area because they sit at the junction of conservation, pest control, and land-use policy. Restoration plantings are often sold as a biodiversity fix. The harder question is whether those plantings change bird communities at the scale of a single orchard and at the scale of a whole valley. Remote sensing is how you ask the second question without walking every field.

Lidar describes vegetation structure. Hyperspectral imagery describes plant condition and composition in more detail than a standard satellite photo. NASA products add regional context. Point counts tell you which species are actually there. A thesis that joins those layers can speak to agencies, nonprofits, and growers in a way a single-method project often cannot.

The lab’s broader work looks at how human activity changes bird behavior, ecology, and evolution, including projects on wildlife in complex agroecosystems. That means a new student is not starting a dataset from zero. You inherit several years of bird and arthropod records and add a question of your own. For a two-year master’s, inherited data is an advantage. It raises the chance that a manuscript is submitted before you graduate.

Skills this project is built to produce:

• Standardized avian point counts and community analysis
• Use of lidar, hyperspectral, and NASA remote sensing products
• Quantitative work in R or Python
• Geospatial analysis of vegetation and landscape structure
• Collaboration with farmers, extension staff, and university partners
• Public communication for a non-academic audience
• Lead authorship of a peer-reviewed paper

Those skills map onto wildlife biology jobs, conservation nonprofits, remote-sensing analyst roles, and PhD applications in ecology. Cal Poly Pomona’s learn-by-doing model also fits a project that spends real time outside.

How to Apply Before the November 13, 2026 Review Date

Send one email to escordato@cpp.edu by November 13, 2026. Put the position in the subject line so it is easy to sort. Attach or include:

• A cover letter of no more than one page
• A CV with academic and professional experience
• Names and contact information for two or three references

Review begins November 13. Interviews are planned for mid to late November. There is no separate portal listed for this lab application. Graduate admission to the university is a separate step. Read the program page before you assume the lab email alone enrolls you: Biological Sciences graduate studies.

Use the cover letter to do four things in one page. State why Southern California agroecosystems interest you. Name a question you could ask with point counts and remote sensing. Show that you can write and handle quantitative work. Mention the driver’s license and any field, bird, coding, or geospatial experience you have. If you lack the preferred skills, say what you will learn and point to a course, job, or project that proves you can learn it quickly.

Questions go to the same address. Asking a precise question about data access, tuition, or start date is reasonable. Asking the lab to summarize the posting is not.

The official listing is on the Natural Resources Job Board. Lab background is at scordatolab.com. Institute background is at spacesinstitute.org.

A Practical Timeline If You Want This Seat

Treat November 13 as a review start, not a soft close. Materials that arrive after interviews are scheduled are harder to weigh.

• Now through late October: email one focused question if fee coverage or visa eligibility would decide whether you apply. Draft the one-page letter.
• Early November: confirm that your references know they may be contacted in late November. Send the packet.
• November 13, 2026: review begins.
• Mid to late November 2026: interviews.
• After an offer: complete Cal Poly Pomona graduate admission requirements for a Fall 2027 start.
• Fall 2027: expected start, after May 10, 2027 as listed on the board.

The Scordato Lab states that it is committed to an inclusive and equitable research environment. All qualified applicants are to be considered without regard to age, disability, gender identity or expression, marital status, national or ethnic origin, political affiliation, race, religion, sex including pregnancy, sexual orientation, veteran status, and family medical or genetic information.

Who This is Worth Applying To

Apply if you already have a bachelor’s in a life or environmental science, you can drive legally in the United States, and you want a thesis that mixes bird surveys with remote sensing in a real farm landscape. The salary is a starting figure of $28,000, not a promise of a full cost-of-living package, so run the numbers for Pomona before you accept. The scientific return is clearer: multi-year datasets, NASA-linked imagery, an interdisciplinary team, outreach practice, and a paper you are expected to lead.

Skip it if you need a fully specified tuition waiver in writing before you will move, or if you cannot hold a U.S. driver’s license. For everyone else who wants a funded master’s position in avian ecology and remote sensing with a Fall 2027 start, the application is one email, one page, a CV, and three reference contacts, due November 13, 2026.