I know that deciding where you want to go for graduate
school can be a pretty difficult decision.
Therefore, I want to give you a little bit of information about our lab
and philosophy so that prospective students can see whether or not my lab 
is
likely to be a good fit for you.
If, after reading this, you still think that might want to study at the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology, then
please get in touch with me to discuss options further. In the meanwhile, I want to give you a
little more information about me, my lab, my philosophy, and the program
options for graduate school here at the University
of Hawaii at Manoa. First of all, my appointment is through
the School of Ocean & Earth Science & Technology (SOEST) which offers a Specialization in
Marine Biology through the Department of Oceanography
or the Zoology Department. Anyone interested in applying to my lab
should also take a close look at the interdisciplinary graduate specialization
in Ecology, Evolution and Conservation
Biology (EECB); students interested in the sorts of research that I do
should also benefit from interacting with the other members of EECB as
well. I encourage you to look
through the links included here to decide which path is likely to be the best
fit for you, and then to discuss it with me. I also encourage you to download this
brief guide to writing an effective Statement of Purpose
for your graduate application. It
is very simple and may help you to develop a better application package to our
competitive program.
Before you can even be considered for acceptance to the lab,
you have to qualify to be accepted to graduate school by the University (so
take some time to 
look
at the links above). In terms of
additional specific considerations for my lab, I do expect a few things. First of all, it is important to me that
everyone in my lab is able to get along.
Right now, the lab is full to capacity, so it isn’t going to be
fun for either you or me to come to work if the people
in the lab are fighting (like the STNG crew pictured here). I don’t mean that you have to
become best friends with everyone you meet, but you have to be able to show
courtesy and respect to your students and colleagues, or my lab is not the
place for you. A research lab
(especially one on a small island) works or fails based on the lab as a whole
rather than the individual efforts of anyone in the lab (including me). Therefore, I expect you to be a good
colleague to others in the lab by helping to maintain lab morale, lab
organization & hygiene, and to contribute intellectually to the projects of
your lab mates.
I am excited about interesting biological questions, and I want to accept students that will strive to broaden my horizons as well as their own. I want students who are relatively self-sufficient, motivated and willing to work hard to excel in their field. Ultimately, success in graduate school is gauged by whether you become an independent scientist, and you need to leave with a thorough understanding of how the scientific process works. So, given that, I am looking for students who have a solid background in biology, and display a high degree of creativity, integrity, and self-motivation. I expect that students will read broadly in the current literature, attend & present at departmental seminars & scientific meetings, and devote themselves to learning the laboratory techniques and analyses that are required to conduct and publish a good scientific study.
That
also means that you must work on honing your oral & written communications
skills. Although oral & written
communication is frequently overlooked in undergraduate education, and almost
always underappreciated by applicants to graduate school, it is a critical
component of becoming a successful scientist. Regardless of your field or laboratory
skills and accomplishments, you only get professional credit when you are able
to write successful proposals and publish research papers in high-quality
journals. Therefore, I cannot
overemphasize how important it is to take every opportunity to improve your
oral and written communication skills.
I would recommend that every student take at least one scientific
writing class before starting graduate school.
The last thing that I’ll tell you is that our lab is very full, and we are not really looking for new students any more. At this point, we are only replacing students as they graduate and that boils down to one student every year or two will be accepted to the program. However, despite the information outlined on this web page, I get several messages from potential students each month that do not include any personal information (the key information I expect is educational history, previous experience, and research interests) or any indication that they know who I am or what I do. When I read a 3-line Email that asks if I am accepting students, I cannot help but wonder if the person has put so little effort into contacting me, why should I take the time and effort to seriously consider them as a member of my lab? If you do not know who I am or what I do, then the first question that comes to my mind is why in the world would you want to come to my lab and work with me for several years!? A word of advice – if you are really interested in applying to our lab as a graduate student, then take the time to look through the web site to figure out what sort of research we do. After that (if you are interested in the same sorts of things that I study), please take the time to write me a very brief research proposal outline to explain what sort of research you would like to do as a graduate student, and include your educational background and any relevant previous experience in science (e.g., it’s always a good idea to include a CV with your Email). You will need these things for virtually any graduate school application anyway, so it will save you time later on, and will greatly improve your chances with any potential advisors when you contact them with this information even if our lab is not a good fit for you. If you want to be taken seriously when you apply to our lab, you will have to put in some effort when you apply, because we have dozens of people each year who do read this and take this information seriously…
Finally, a word of advice to prospective students: graduate
school is hard enough; don’t go out of your way to make it any more
difficult than it need be. When you
are trying to select a graduate program, the bottom line is to ask yourself:
where are you likely to get the best opportunity to gain the background necessary
to excel in whatever career you choose (whether that is an academic position, a
government position or in private industry)? Will you get the educational
opportunities and guidance that you need?
Will you have the resources and equipment necessary to complete your
research? Will you have enough
support to live comfortably during your time in graduate school? These are the sorts of questions that
you need to consider before making your decision. Graduate school is often stressful, and
I don’t know any students who have not questioned their decision to go to
graduate school at some point during their studies. Living in
So,
after reading through this, if you think that you are a strong candidate for
acceptance to graduate school at the
Rob
Toonen
Assistant Research Professor
Hawaii
Institute of Marine Biology
School of
Ocean & Earth Science & Technology,
toonen_@_hawaii.edu
(remove both
underscores “_” to make this Email address work)
808-236-7401
Toonen Lab ToBo
Lab Members Research Publications Prospective Students
Note: This page and the images on it are copyrighted. If you are interested in using any of the images on this web page, please contact me so that I can put you in touch with the person who retains the copyright to them.