M.Sc. research assistantship available in Terrapene carolina ecology and conservation at the University of Rhode Island. This National Park Service-funded project will quantify environmental triggers of hibernation and emergence in T. carolina at Fire Island National Seashore and Sagamore Hill National Historic Site on Long Island, NY, to aid in developing guidelines for mowing and other maintenance activities. Field research includes visual encounter surveys and radio-telemetry of turtles at both national park units, and research assistant will also be responsible for summer herpetological inventory at one park unit.
Selected student must be able to start in September 2014. Applicants should be hard-working, self-motivated field biologists with a strong interest in national parks, herpetology, and turtle conservation. Field experience in herpetology must be demonstrated, including sampling methods used and skill in species identification. Preference will be given to applicants who have worked with turtles and have skills in radio-telemetry. Strong writing and oral communication skills are required. Applicants must be willing to develop skills in statistics and GIS. Applicants must hold a U.S. driver’s license and have access to a personal vehicle. Applicants must have successfully completed a bachelor’s degree in ecology or related field, have at least a 3.0 undergraduate GPA, and have taken the GRE. International students for whom English is not the first language will need to have taken the TOEFL. I support increasing diversity in science disciplines and strongly encourage applications from those whose backgrounds may be under-represented in ecology. Research assistantship provides a stipend of approximately $25,000/yr (2 years of research assistantship support guaranteed; potential for one additional year of teaching assistantship support), health insurance, and a tuition waiver. Incomplete applications will not be reviewed. To apply submit the following as a single pdf or Word document by email: a cover letter stating your qualifications, research interests, and career goals; a resume or CV; unofficial copies of university transcripts and GRE scores [or pending test date]; and contact information for three references (not letters). Application materials due by 21 March 2014 (early application is encouraged!) to: Dr. Nancy E. Karraker(Email: [email protected]). To learn more about what we do, visit our lab group website: http://karraker.weebly.com/. See the following websites for further information about the Department (http://nrs.uri.edu/), interdisciplinary graduate program (http://web.uri.edu/cels-gradprograms/bes/), and the College of the Environment and Life Sciences (http://www.uri.edu/cels/) at the University of Rhode Island. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Nancy E. Karraker, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Wetland Ecology Department of Natural Resources Science University of Rhode Island 105 Coastal Institute at Kingston Kingston, Rhode Island 02881 USA Email: [email protected] Phone: 401-874-2916 Webpage: http://karraker.weebly.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
