A PhD opportunity is available for a student to join the Schultz lab at the Washington State University Vancouver to investigate the ecology of Taylor’s checkerspot, a federal candidate butterfly in Oregon and Washington. The position is part of a new grant funded by SERDP (Strategic Environmental Research and Defense Program) to investigate source-sink dynamics of at-risk butterflies and includes collaborators at Harvard, Duke and University of North Carolina. The position will involve investigation of basic life history attributes of Taylor’s checkerspot, as well as experimental investigation of effects of key habitat management tools. Experimental work will involve field and lab-based studies to assess impacts of grass-specific herbicides on butterfly demography and behavior. Please see our website for overview of our research approach and list of publications: http://research.vancouver.wsu.edu/cheryl-schultz
PhD students are admitted through the Environmental Science Program at WSU Vancouver. The Program provides students with an interdisciplinary, applications-oriented education in environmental science. Students will be financially supported through a combination of teaching and research assistantships. Washington State University Vancouver is a new and rapidly growing campus in the WSU system located in Vancouver, Washington just north of Portland, Oregon. Students benefit from outstanding faculty, world-class research, state-of-the-art facilities and small class sizes. For more information, see http://science.vancouver.wsu.edu/ Graduate students enrolled in the Environmental Science graduate program may also apply for WSUV GK-12 Graduate Teaching Fellowships. GK-12 Fellows serve as graduate teaching assistants in a middle-school science classroom for an entire academic year and stipends are very competitive ($30,000/year). All teaching/research assistantships include tuition waivers as part of their stipends. Interested students should send a CV/resume and a letter describing past research experience and future research interests to Cheryl Schultz, [email protected] or call 360-546-9525 for more information. Graduate applications receive priority consideration if received by January 10, 2011 for Fall 2011 admission. Initial field work for the project begins in March 2011. We anticipate hiring the student as an assistant for the 2011 field season. I encourage all interested students to get in touch to learn more about the program and research in our lab.
