Agency: Southern Illinois University
Location: Carbondale, Illinois
Job Category: Graduate Assistantships
Salary: $25k/yr + tuition and student health care access; up to 5 years of 
support
Start Date: August 2025, start date negotiable
Last Date to Apply: Open until Filled; applicants will be reviewed on rolling 
basis.
Advisors: Drs. Brent Pease and Guillaume Bastille-Rousseau
Website: https://peaselab.com/; https://bastillerousseau.wixsite.com/research

Description
A Ph.D.-level Graduate Research Assistantship is available starting August 2025 
in the PEASE Lab (Population Estimation and Spatial Ecology; peaselab.com) at 
Southern Illinois University to establish a statewide Autonomous Recording Unit 
(ARU) monitoring project. The focus of the monitoring will be on wild turkey 
(Meleagris gallopavo) populations but several other state listed or SGCN 
species, particularly forest species, are of interest.
The student will lead research using ARUs to document spatial and/or temporal 
variation in the timing of turkey vocalizations (e.g., Kreh et al., 2018 
Wildlife Society Bulletin). The objective of this research is to assess current 
spring harvest season regulations (e.g., timing, zoning, and length of spring 
harvest seasons) and then provide regulatory recommendations based on ARU 
sampling. Addition work will focus on environmental drivers of variation in 
vocalization timing as well as methodological work in ARUs, species 
identification from audio recordings, and continued ongoing work within our lab 
on population estimation (e.g., abundance) via ARU recordings.

Secondly, the ARUs will passively document many other species, and the student 
will have an opportunity to develop research questions focused on non-targeted 
species or methodology of ARUs (e.g., study design, analyses, etc.).

This position will emphasize a unique intersection of field and quantitative 
ecology. The selected student will ideally have extensive experience deploying, 
processing, and analyzing acoustic data. Students with an interest in 
developing and applying state-of-the-art quantitative approaches in wildlife 
conservation are particularly encouraged to apply; much of the dissertation 
work could focus on model and methodological development. Additional research 
is needed on machine learning classifiers for wild turkey management. The 
student should also be excited about carrying out field work during winter and 
spring across Illinois, in sometimes difficult field conditions, and should 
have a general interest and knowledge of wild turkey and other upland gamebird 
ecology. The successful applicant is expected to communicate findings to state 
agencies and other on-going, regional monitoring efforts. The student will earn 
a Ph.D. in Agricultural Sciences at Southern Illinois University.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- ---- -- -- ---- -- -- ---- -- -- ---- -- -- ---- -- -- --
General Qualifications
This is a well-funded, multi-agency research project, and the graduate student 
will be expected to assist in hiring and managing field technicians to support 
the data collection efforts.
The successful applicant will have (1) obtained M.S. degree in wildlife, 
ecology, biology, forestry, zoology, or related fields; (2) knowledge of wild 
turkey ecology; (3) exceptional quantitative skills with experience using a 
variety of data types and models; (4) knowledge of program R and spatial 
software (e.g., QGIS, ArcGIS); (5) a driver's license and ability to conduct 
independent field work in difficult conditions (e.g., steep terrain, poison 
ivy, ticks); (6) strong oral and written communication skills, and (7) a 
cooperative, team-oriented mindset eager to carry out wildlife research and 
address key problems in wildlife conservation and management.
To apply please email a single PDF to Dr. Brent Pease 
(bpea...@siu.edu<mailto:bpea...@siu.edu>) that includes:
1. A cover letter that describes your specific interest in this position and 
how your past experiences and career goals align with the goals of the project.
2. Curriculum Vitae (with GPA and GRE scores included)
3. Undergraduate and graduate transcripts (unofficial is acceptable)
4. Example of writing (e.g., M.S. thesis or publication; can be included 
separately as PDF)
6. Contact information for 3 references
The email subject should be “PhD – ARU Monitoring”. Applications will be 
accepted until positions are filled and reviewed on a rolling basis.
Questions:
Contact Person: Dr. Brent Pease
Contact Email: bpea...@siu.edu<mailto:bpea...@siu.edu>
Please see the PEASE lab website (https://peaselab.com/) and the SIU Forestry 
Program’s homepage (https://forestry.siu.edu<https://forestry.siu.edu/>) for 
more information on our research and academic department.




BRENT PEASE, PH.D.
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, FORESTRY PROGRAM

SCHOOL OF FORESTRY AND HORTICULTURE
MAIL CODE 4411
SOUTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY
1205 LINCOLN DRIVE, AGRICULTURAL BUILDING, ROOM 186B
CARBONDALE, ILLINOIS 62901

bpea...@siu.edu<mailto:bpea...@siu.edu>
P: 618.453.7474

PEASELAB.COM



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