Faculty Advisors
Interdisciplinarity is at the core of the Ph.D. program’s identity. Each student’s program of study and dissertation research will be guided by a major advisor, and we recommend selecting a secondary advisor from a distinct area of research or scholarly expertise. This dual-advisor model supports students in developing integrated, cross-disciplinary approaches to complex environmental and sustainability issues.
We strongly encourage prospective students to begin identifying areas of interest early in the application process and to reach out to at least one potential advisor. The alignment between an applicant’s research goals and the expertise and availability of faculty advisors is an important consideration in admissions decisions.
Major advisors will be drawn from the faculty with an appointment in the Institute of the Environment and Sustainability. However, depending on the student’s focus, additional advisors may also come from other UCLA departments and schools—reflecting the university’s exceptional breadth in physical and life sciences, humanities, social sciences, fine arts, and professional training.
To help guide your search for potential advisors, we have organized IoES faculty into broad categories of expertise below. Faculty may appear under more than one category.
The following advisors have expressed interest in Ph.D. students applying for the December 2025 deadline to start in Fall 2026:
William Boyd
Daniel Blumstein
Charles Corbett
Robert Eagle
Ursula Heise
David Jacobs
Elsa Ordway
Sanjay Mohanty
Alesia Montgomery
Michael Ross
Pablo Saide
Monica Smith
Felipe Zapata