PhD or MSc Assistantship on an NSF Funded Project - Use of LiDAR in Stands Subjected to Various Silvicultural Treatments
(IMPORTANT NOTE: the funding agency requires American citizenship or permanent resident status). About the project: multidisciplinary, five subprojects, funded by the National Science Foundation, five-year, $5 million grant. Large-scale ecological/silvicultural experiment involving manipulating forest stands at the Bankhead National Forest through thinning and prescribed burning. Goals of the Vegetation Subproject include determining the effects of overstory retention level, fire frequency, and their interaction on plant community structure, composition, productivity, and dynamics. The graduate assistant will work on the use of LiDAR and hemispherical photographs for characterizing forest structure and dynamics in a mixed mesophytic forest. Another graduate student is already studying the effect of the different treatments on herbaceous vegetation diversity, composition, and dynamics. Prior experience in the use of LiDAR is highly desired. Preferred background in one or several of the following: LiDAR, silviculture, forest ecology, remote sensing, GIS, or spatial analysis. The candidate can simultaneously obtain a minor in GIS. The research and data collection includes working outdoors, often in a hot and humid environment, in the presence of wild animals and parasites (ticks, mosquitoes), in forested habitat and mountainous terrain. The annual research assistantships are $25,000 for doctoral students and $20,000 for master's students. Interested applicants should contact Dr. Luben Dimov for details at: Center for Forestry and Ecology, P.O. Box 1927, Normal, AL 35762, [EMAIL PROTECTED], phone: 256-372-4545, fax: 256-372-8404, http://saes.aamu.edu/forestry/CFEApeople/bios/Dimov.htm. Starting date is flexible. Applications will be reviewed as they are received. About Huntsville and the surrounding area: Huntsville is often said to be very different from the rest of Alabama. About the town: http://www.hsvcity.com/about/index.php; recreation: http://www.hsvcity.com/recreation/. Located in north Alabama, only 20 miles from Tennessee. Presence of several universities and colleges, major federal agencies, and many private industries, including: Alabama A&M University, University of Alabama in Huntsville, NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, Cummings Research Park, Army's Redstone Arsenal, most big space and defense firms (Boeing, Lockheed Martin). There are many recreational opportunities in Alabama and Tennessee that are all with a short driving distance. Larger metropolitan areas, Chattanooga, TN and Birmingham, AL, are within 100 miles. About the Center for Forestry and Ecology: the forestry program is accredited by the Society of American Foresters. The graduate program is relatively new and expanding with about 15 graduate students currently working on projects in the general areas of ecology, forestry, and wildlife and funded by the USDA, NSF, and EPA. APPLICANTS FROM UNDERSERVED GROUPS ARE ESPECIALLY ENCOURAGED TO APPLY.
