Student Opportunity Announcements
PhD Graduate Assistantship, Wetland Ecology
The Department of Integrative Biology at the University of South Florida seeks applicants for a Ph.D. position to study spatial components of wetland ecology and hydrology, and to participate in an exciting new interdisciplinary project funded by the National Science Foundation. West-central Florida, around Tampa Bay, boasts a diverse array of wetland ecosystems. These wetlands are embedded in a complex landscape that varies in groundwater hydrology, land cover, and underlying geology. The student would investigate how this landscape template regulates the distribution, structure, and function of wetlands, and the vulnerability of wetlands to various human activities.
***Prospective activities and requirements***
We seek a student who wishes to develop their dissertation project under this broad conceptual umbrella, using a variety of field, laboratory, and modeling/analytical approaches. One requirement for the dissertation will be geospatial analyses of existing data to examine spatial relationships among wetland ecology and hydrology variables, and between wetland traits and human activities (groundwater withdrawal, urban growth). Thus, competency with geospatial analysis and GIS is required, as is a Masters degree in Ecology or a related field. Knowledge of biogeochemistry, hydrology, or landscape ecology is preferred.
The student will participate in an interdisciplinary framework, and have access to the intellectual resources it provides. The broader NSF-funded project supporting this graduate assistantship examines the social and ecological drivers and outcomes of water policy, urbanization, and wetland change. The student will thus interact with faculty and other students from the social and natural sciences and management agencies. Furthermore, students and faculty within the Dept. of Integrative Biology work on diverse problems spanning levels of organization from genes to organisms to ecosystems. The student will be supported by a combination of grant-based research assistantships and from teaching assistantships during the period of study.
***Contact and application***
For more information about this position, please contact Dr. David Lewis at lewis@cas.usf.edu or 813-974-8108 (website: http://biology.usf.edu/ib/faculty/dlewis/).
Applications are due Jan 1st to be considered for a University Graduate Fellowship, or Feb 15th to be considered for the combined RA/TA support described above. To apply, please follow the application procedures for the Dept. of Integrative Biology and for the University of South Florida. Those are described here:
Domestic (US) students: http://biology.usf.edu/ib/grad/prospective/domesticap/
International students: http://biology.usf.edu/ib/grad/prospective/internationalap/