Job Title: Ph.D. applications to work on woodland caribou habitat selection and conservation in the Saskatchewan Boreal Shield.
Location: University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada Closing: Will need to contact me by January 31, 2014. Students must have a record of publication in mainstream peer-reviewed journals and GPA of 3.8 or higher. Apply: Email me a CV and pdf copies of both undergrad and graduate transcripts (unless interested in a post-doc, then only a CV is required). Email to [email protected]. Please write “Woodland Caribou” as the subject line. Description: My lab is developing a long-term research program on the ecology of threatened woodland caribou in northern Saskatchewan, Canada, including population dynamics, critical habitat, and the population dynamics of their main predators (wolves and black bears). This opportunity, which is fully funded commencing May 1, 2014, is for a Ph.D. student to study caribou habitat selection and density relationships including linking caribou populations to habitat where we have both collared caribou and survey data. Locations from approximately 135 collared caribou will allow us to analyze habitat selection using resource selection functions (RSFs), i.e., model probabilities of occurrence for points or pixels in space as a function of habitat descriptors such as elevation, vegetation attributes (e.g., ecosite, successional pathway, canopy closure, and stand age), distance to water and movement corridors, snow depth, and the background RSF models of predators (developed by a lab mate)—all of which may interact with natural and anthropogenic disturbance. This project will further the development of RSF models that take into account ecological dynamics, especially the relationship between caribou habitat selection, local densities, and wolf and black bear habitat selection. . Field work will occur principally in winter. The project is fully funded at $21,000 CAD per year, however, students will be expected to apply for internal and external scholarships, including NSERC PGS-D scholarships (if Canadian). The successful student will have an opportunity to engage with a large lab working on related questions with respect to caribou population dynamics, but also our lab’s long-term project on the life history and evolution of the Sable Island horses. Students can expect to publish outside of one’s own thesis topic as part of whole-lab research questions. Evidence of familiarity with resource selection functions, generalized linear models, and programming in the R language is an asset. Preference will be given to students that aspire to a career in academia and who have a track record that reflects this career goal. Interested applicants should contact me asap by email ([email protected]), and be prepared to submit a current CV with copies of transcripts (unless a post-doc, in which case only a CV is needed). Website: http://mcloughlinlab.ca/lab/
