Hello- can you please post the following announcement? Thanks! Dear Colleagues and Interested Students:
I am looking for exceptional students who are interested in the study of plant-microbe symbioses. I currently have funding for a Master's student, with a guaranteed research assistantship. Brief Project Description: Plant species fundamentally vary in their abundance, ranging from federally endangered to severely weedy. Several hypotheses have been proposed to explain this pattern, but few have considered the importance of microbial symbioses (widespread associations between microbes and plants). This research evaluates the role of symbiosis in governing plant rarity and invasiveness, taking advantage of the experimentally tractable interactions between grasses and systemic fungal endophytes (fungi that live within plant leaves). In grasses, endophytes may improve plant resistance to herbivory, pathogens, and drought stress, and may thereby affect host abundance. Are symbionts' benefits are greater for common than rare host species? Do benefits differ between native and non-native host plants? A clearer understanding of endophyte ecology may offer novel strategies for rare plant conservation as well as invasive plant control. Prospective students should contact me directly at [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more information on my lab, please visit my website: http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~jrudgers. For more information about the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Rice University, please see our departmental website < http://eeb.rice.edu/>. Rice has a growing and supportive community of ecologists and evolutionary biologists. We are particularly strong in the study of mutualisms (cooperation both within and between species), but research interests span population and community ecology, conservation biology, invasion biology, behavior, ecological genetics, genomics, and speciation. Jennifer Rudgers Godwin Assistant Professor Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Rice University 6100 Main Street MS-170 Houston TX 77005 ph. 713.348.6276 fax. 713.348.5232 e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~jrudgers/
