People
Lyn Watts, PhD
I am an Assistant Professor in Earth Sciences at Binghamton University where I joined the faculty in Fall 2026. Before joining the faculty at Binghamton, I completed my MS and PhD at the University of Massachusetts - Amherst, and my BA at Smith College. Before graduate school I dabbled in outdoor education, consulting, and volunteer coordinating.
When not exploring bogs, I can be found kayaking, skiing, reading science fiction and mysteries, and crafting.
MS and PhD Students
I am recruiting a PhD student (or MS) to join my new hydrology lab in the Earth Sciences department at Binghamton University. This is a funded opportunity, including semester and summer salary, tuition costs covered, to begin fall 2027.
Topics of interest include:
- Wetland hydrology and restoration
- Groundwater-dependent wetlands and rivers
- Flood forecasting and hazard mitigation
- River responses to climate and land use change
If you are interested in pursuing a topic that does not fit one of these categories, but is relevant to the intersection between water, land, and communities, email me to ask if it is a project I can support! We use a wide variety of methods: We do field work, lab work, remote sensing, and sometimes we play with big datasets. Some of our tools include:
- Stable water isotopes
- Thermal, multispectral, and lidar near surface remote sensing (drones and handheld units)
- Peat cores and soil cores
- Fiber optic Distributed Temperature sensing
What you will bring:
- Curiosity and a strong interest in wetland dynamics and interdisciplinary research
- Experience in a lab and/or field work setting
- Great communication skills, written and verbal
The following experience is nice to have. But don’t be dissuaded from reaching out if you don’t have any of these. The above qualifications are much more important.
- Experience in GIS and remote sensing
- Experience flying drones and/or processing drone imagery
- Experience in water sampling
- Experience using R or Python
To Apply: Prospective students please email Lyn Watts (lynwatts@binghamton.edu) with a CV and a brief statement about your research interests. The application deadline for the university is January 15 th , 2027. Final graduate admissions decisions are made through the department’s formal admissions process.
Postdocs
I am happy to discuss ways to collaborate with potential postdocs. If you are interested in joining our lab, please reach out. If I do not have funding, I will likely recommend that we write a proposal together. I am always happy to discuss your ideas and goals, and help brainstorm a workable project!
Undergraduate Research Assistants
If you would like to contribute to existing projects and gain research experience please reach out to me via email. If you have never had a research experience before, I encourage you to apply to my project through the Binghamton University Projects for New Undergraduate Researchers. It is a paid opportunity to get hands on research experience in our lab.