I seek a highly motivated Ph.D. student for a NOAA-funded study on the ecology and genetics of Phragmites invasion in Chesapeake Bay brackish wetlands. This study will be part of a larger project at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC) in Edgewater, MD, focusing on the impacts of shoreline modification on Chesapeake Bay ecosystems. The funded student would be part of a team of researchers (Karin Kettenring, USU; Dennis Whigham and Melissa McCormick, SERC; Denice Wardrop, Penn State) looking at the role of disturbances, including shoreline modification, on Phragmites establishment and survival. There is considerable flexibility for the Ph.D. student to develop their own project while building on previous and on-going work on Phragmites invasion ecology and genetics in the Chesapeake Bay by the co-PIs.
The student would enroll in the Ecology Program and the Department of Watershed Sciences at Utah State University but would conduct field research in the Chesapeake Bay. Interested applicants should send a letter of interest (previous accomplishments, research experience and interests, and how this project fits into future career goals), a resume or C.V., transcripts, GRE scores, and contact information for three references to Karin Kettenring at karin.kettenr...@usu.edu. Review of applications will begin February 5, 2010, but the position will remain open until filled. The target start date is summer or fall 2010. Utah State University is located in Logan, 90 miles northeast of Salt Lake City, in beautiful Cache Valley. Opportunities for hiking, biking, skiing, and camping cannot be beat. ************************************************ Karin M. Kettenring Assistant Professor, Wetland Ecology Ecology Center and Department of Watershed Sciences Utah State University karin.kettenr...@usu.edu http://www.cnr.usu.edu/htm/facstaff/Kettenring ************************************************
