Friends,
I am pleased to announce the following available PhD Fellowships.
Please do not hesitate to contact me or any o the contacts listed if
you have any questions or interest.
Fabrice
University of Idaho – Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher
Education Center (CATIE)
Turrialba, Costa Rica/ Volcánica Central-Talamanca Biological Corridor
Team
PhD Assistantship Announcements
Interdisciplinary PhD Research Assistantships in Sustainable
Production, Sustainable Rural Livelihoods, and Resilience of the
Volcánica Central-Talamanca Biological Corridor, a crucially important
Mesoamerican landscape. Up to five Ph.D. research assistantships will
be available to join a collaborative team working on aspects of
sustainable production, conservation, and sustainable rural
livelihoods within the Volcánica Central-Talamanca Biological
Corridor, in Turrialba, Costa Rica. The linked dissertation projects
will work in a region that faces a variety of natural resource
management problems and where regional social and economic needs
create pressure to increase ecosystem services. With funding from the
National Science Foundation’s Integrative Graduate Education and
Research Traineeship program (IGERT), fellows will pursue disciplinary
research important for the overall theme, and work together to
identify and address interdisciplinary issues critical for effective
policy development, management planning, and implementation. The team
will interact with members of five other IGERT-sponsored student/
faculty teams pursuing similar objectives in other ecosystems in which
sustainability and conservation in the face of changing conditions and
pressures is desired.
PhD Assistantship in Entomology and Landscape Ecology. Seeking a
highly motivated and qualified student to pursue studies on
communities of introduced pests and native insects in coffee
agroforestry systems (CAFS). Research will focus on determining 1)
how coffee management practices influence the colonization,
persistence, and movement of key invasive pests in the landscape, 2)
how the spatial arrangement of CAFS and forest fragments within the
landscape impact the movement of agricultural pests and beneficial
organisms, and 3) how trends in changing landuse patterns affect
movement of pests and beneficial organisms. In addition, the student
will conduct collaborative research to examine interdisciplinary
aspects of conservation in the dynamic, human-dominated landscape that
constitutes the corridor with team members in fields such as rural
sociology, natural resource economics, soil science, and hydrology and
watershed management. Contact Nilsa Bosque-Pérez ([email protected]),
Sanford Eigenbrode ([email protected]), and Fabrice De Clerk ([email protected]
).
PhD Assistantship in Hydrology and Watershed Management. Seeking a
highly motivated and qualified student to pursue the study of
hydrological sciences in mixed landuse watersheds. The broader
research focus will be on impacts of landuse and climate change on
ecosystem services and environmental quality. As a component of the
work the student will assess water infiltration and storage in
tropical soils. In addition, the student will conduct collaborative
research to examine interdisciplinary aspects of conservation in the
dynamic, human-dominated landscape that constitutes the corridor with
team members in fields such as entomology, landscape ecology, soil
science, rural sociology, and natural resource economics. Contact Jan
Boll ([email protected]) and Jeff Jones ([email protected]).
PhD Assistantship in Sustainable Rural Livelihoods. Seeking a highly
motivated and qualified student to pursue the study of 1) rural
livelihood dynamics of smallholders, and 2) to determine the extent to
which livelihood dynamics may influence landuse change decisions and
are shaped by market forces and the overall political-legal and
institutional framework. A mix of quantitative and qualitative
methods will be used to determine livelihood security and potential
trade-offs between conservation and development goals, and to identify
viable options for minimizing the trade-offs. As a component of the
work the student will identify reactive or proactive adjustments to
the livelihood strategies in response to perceived or anticipated
effects of climate change. In addition, the student will conduct
collaborative research to examine interdisciplinary aspects of
conservation in the dynamic, human-dominated landscape that
constitutes the corridor with team members in fields such as
entomology, landscape ecology, hydrology and watershed management,
soil science, and natural resource economics. Contact J.D. Wulfhorst ([email protected]
) and Dietmar Stoian ([email protected]).
PhD Assistantship in Natural Resource Economics. Seeking a highly
motivated student with strong quantitative skills to pursue the study
of 1) conflicts and rights-development for ecosystem services and
production goods originating from forestry and other competing
landuses in the biological corridor, 2) the role of civil society and
communities in addressing forest tenure and other use rights in policy
processes, and 3) agreement costs for achieving good governance and
landscape relevance of riparian protection areas in private lands
within the corridor. Other potential areas of research include 4)
valuation of ecosystem’s services and natural resources, and 5)
incentive compatibility of natural resource management alternatives.
The research will be conducted using a variety of empirical approaches
including but not limited to econometric analysis and optimization
frameworks. In addition, the student will conduct collaborative
research to examine interdisciplinary aspects of conservation in the
dynamic, human-dominated landscape that constitutes the corridor with
team members in fields such as entomology, landscape ecology, rural
sociology, soil science, and hydrology and watershed management.
Contact Guillermo Navarro ([email protected]), Levan Elbakidze ([email protected]
), and Francisco Alpizar ([email protected]).
PhD Assistantship in Soil Science. Seeking a highly motivated and
qualified student to pursue the study of soil science. Research will
focus on soil properties and processes within the context of landuse
and management practices in the biological corridor. As a component
of the work the student will also help develop remote soil mapping
techniques for the tropics. In addition, the student will conduct
collaborative research to examine interdisciplinary aspects of
conservation in the dynamic, human-dominated landscape that
constitutes the corridor with team members in fields such as
entomology, landscape ecology, rural sociology, natural resource
economics, and hydrology and watershed management. Contact Paul
McDaniel ([email protected]) and Eduardo Somarriba
([email protected]).
This unique graduate education program will provide students:
· Team-based interdisciplinary education
· International perspective
· Broad geographic and ecological exposure
· Participation in integrated interdisciplinary teams
· Cross-cultural experience
Requirements: Applicants must be American citizens or permanent
residents of the USA. Successful applicants must have obtained an
M.S. degree in a discipline of relevance to the project and will join
the program to begin course work at the end of July 2010. Interviews
of top applicants will be conducted at the University of Idaho campus
in Spring 2010.
For information on our previous IGERT project visit the web page:
http://www.cals.uidaho.edu/igert/
For information on the University of Idaho College of Graduate Studies
see: http://www.uidaho.edu/cogs/
For information on the Joint Doctoral Program between UI and CATIE go
to: http://www.uiweb.uidaho.edu/catie/
For information about CATIE visit: http://www.catie.ac.cr/
