Opportunities for Graduate Students Abound at CNAS

Graduate students looking to pursue an advanced degree through the College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences have an opportunity to work with and learn from some of the top minds in their fields.

 


Taking Advantage


CNAS is a unique and diverse learning environment. It crosses disciplines, providing chances for graduate students to tailor their learning experience and explore ideas that they have never dreamed of. If what you want isn't happening in your department or lab, it's happening down the hall or in the next building. For example:

  • Professor Tom Perring in Entomology is creating a chemical duplicate of a moth's sex pheromone and figuring out how to spray it most effectively on date palms.
  • Prof. John Baez in Mathematics is researching mind-bending topologies as two-tangle surfaces embedded in four-dimensional space.

These are just a few of the hundreds of research programs waiting for you here at UCR.

 

The Next Step

The CNAS Graduate Student Affairs Center provides assistance to both applicants and enrolled graduate students. The seven-member staff of GSAC supports all the departments and graduate programs in the college, with the exception of the Departments of Chemistry, Mathematics, and Physics & Astronomy, which have their own graduate advising staff. As a first step, visit the website of the appropriate graduate advising office:
 

 

Graduate Programs in Detail

To explore further, check out the links below to see the college's master's and doctoral degree offerings. Some are department based; others are interdisciplinary. Follow links to the faculty members' own laboratory pages to see what specific work they are doing and how that fits into your interests. Don't hesitate to email a professor if you have questions.

 

Graduate Programs

CNAS Headline News

The adventures of a German Shepherd and a nematologist
Zeus, the German Shepherd, found Perla Achi at the Riverside County Animal Shelter on October 2, 2018. At the time, he was a seven-month-old pup and she was a 22-year-old biology undergrad at UC Riverside. Achi was rescued by Zeus after losing her first German Shepherd, King, to cancer earlier that year — making for a tough start to her first year at UCR. She named him Zeus because he had a way of zooming and jumping when excited. With his size, he shook the floor and made loud noises, which reminded her of the Greek god of thunder.
Read More »
Eric Gazelle and Jay Lefler in CNAS machine and glass shop
Custom engineering brings radioactivity to life
A box on wheels built in a UCR machine shop is changing the way students see physics
Read More »
Emilia Burnham
The princess with a point
As the 2025 American Honey Princess and a master’s student in entomology at UC Riverside, Emilia Burnham has found a unique way to connect with schoolchildren and inspire future scientists.
Read More »
Glassblower Stephen Lepore at work
The hidden glass shop powering UCR science
Stephen Lepore’s custom glasswork keeps research moving across campus and beyond
Read More »
FDA drug trials exclude a widening slice of Americans
A UCR study finds just 6% of clinical trials used to approve new drugs in the U.S. reflect the country’s racial and ethnic makeup, with an increasing trend of trials underrepresenting Black and Hispanic individuals.
Read More »
termite colony in wood
Fecal tests reveal active termite attacks
By testing for microbes in termite excrement, researchers can distinguish old droppings from fresh, and whether a colony is actively chewing its way through a home.
Read More »
Flesh eating screwworm fly
Preempting a flesh-eating fly’s return to California
University of California Riverside researchers are launching a preemptive strike against the threatened return of the flesh-eating New World screwworm, a threat to livestock.
Read More »
Chinese forest research site
Heat and drought change what forests breathe out
After six years of UC Riverside-led research in a temperate Chinese forest, researchers have found that warming may be reducing nitrogen emissions, at least in places where rainfall is scarce.
Read More »
Let us help you with your search