Opportunities for Graduate Study in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
The Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Kansas (KU-EEB: <http://www2.ku.edu/~eeb/> http://www2.ku.edu/~eeb/) seeks applications from highly qualified and motivated graduate students. KU-EEB includes 43 faculty members and about 70 graduate students whose research focuses on three broad topical domains: Biodiversity and Macroevolution, Ecology and Global Change Biology, and Evolutionary Mechanisms. Applications from all qualified students will be given serious consideration; however, we specifically seek students whose interests match the following descriptions. Students who wish to pursue research in these areas are encouraged to review the research profiles of the faculty members listed below. Ecology and Global Change Biology (recruiting up to 8 students) * Dr. Ford Ballantyne (http://www2.ku.edu/~eeb/faculty/ballantyne.shtml): Developing models, grounded in empirical knowledge in an attempt to understand why populations fluctuate, how resources are apportioned among species, how trophic interactions structure communities and what drives element cycling from the level of individual organisms to entire ecosystems. * Dr. Sharon Billings (http://www2.ku.edu/~eeb/faculty/billings.shtml): We explore how global change perturbations such as rising atmospheric CO2, land use change, rising temperatures, and changing water availability influence forest and grassland processes such as carbon biomass accrual and soil carbon and nitrogen pools and fluxes. There is a particular emphasis on stable isotope ecology as a tool for soil and tree ecophysiological studies, as well as microbial ecology. * Dr. Bryan Foster (http://www2.ku.edu/~eeb/faculty/foster.shtml): Experimental ecology, grassland dynamics, tests of community assembly theory, mechanisms of plant species coexistence and biodiversity, ecosystem consequences of biodiversity * Dr. James Thorp (http://www2.ku.edu/~eeb/faculty/Jim_thorp_web/index.htm): Freshwater ecology, specifically studies of the factors controlling the complexity of food webs in rivers and the relationships between riverine landscape heterogeneity and ecosystem function. * Dr. Joy Ward (http://www2.ku.edu/~eeb/faculty/ward.shtml): Understanding how global change factors influence the physiology, population structure, and evolution of plant species. More specifically, we seek to understand the effects of global change drivers that alter plant resource availability, such as changing atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations, changing precipitation regimes, and rising temperatures. Evolutionary Mechanisms * Dr. Justin Blumenstiel (http://www2.ku.edu/~eeb/faculty/blumenstiel.shtml): Evolution of genetic systems, particularly understanding the role that genetic conflict has had in shaping the evolution of meiosis and germline development. * Dr. Jennifer Gleason (http://www2.ku.edu/~eeb/faculty/gleason.shtml): Evolutionary genetics of sexual isolation between species through analyses of the genes underlying courtship behavior in Drosophila. * Dr. Lena Hileman (http://www2.ku.edu/~eeb/faculty/hileman.shtml): Integrating phylogenetic, molecular evolutionary, and molecular developmental approaches to investigate how flowers have evolved such a diversity of form. Biodiversity and Macroevolution * Dr. Rafe Brown (http://nhm.ku.edu/rbrown/): Herpetological systematics and biodiversity, phylogenetic systematics, character evolution, phylogeography, population and conservation genetics, biogeography, and the evolution of animal behavior. * Dr. Paulyn Cartwright (http://www2.ku.edu/~eeb/faculty/cartwright.shtml): Investigating patterns and processes in medusozoan evolution. In particular I am seeking a PhD student to participate in the NSF-funded Cnidarian Tree of Life project to investigate higher-level hydrozoan phylogenetics. * Dr. Kirsten Jensen ( <http://www2.ku.edu/~eeb/faculty/jensen.shtml> http://www2.ku.edu/~eeb/faculty/jensen.shtml): Parasitology, with particular emphasis on the systematics, morphology, biodiversity, and life-cycles of tapeworms. Ph.D. student sought to participate in an NSF-funded Planetary Biodiversity Inventories project to document the diversity of elasmobranch (ray and shark) tapeworms from around the world. Facilities to support graduate education and research include world-class collections in our museums, equipment and expertise in molecular biology, including DNA sequencing, growth chambers and greenhouses, and an extensive field station for establishing controlled experimental plots. Successful applicants to our doctoral program are guaranteed five years of financial support for the academic year. The department provides support for travel to attend and present results at national and international professional meetings. Funds to support graduate student research is also available through departmental endowment funds. Please contact Jaime Keeler ( <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> [EMAIL PROTECTED]) if you are interested in any of these projects or if you require additional information on our program.
