The Cadotte lab at the University of Toronto-Scarborough is looking for a Postdoctoral researcher in ecological dynamics in urban ecosystems.
The background: Urban green areas provide important ecosystem function and services to large human populations. While there have been numerous experiments assessing the effect of diversity on ecosystem function, there has not been a comprehensive attempt to apply these principles to existing ecosystems. Urban green areas represent a number of different ecosystem types and different management policies that directly or indirectly affect species diversity, thus affecting functioning within green areas. At a larger scale, a diversity of types of green areas may provide greater service than repeated, singular types of green areas. Given this diversity and the fact that municipalities depend on the ecosystem functions and services provided by urban green areas, it is important to understand the biological components of ecosystem function. I am looking for a postdoctoral research fellow to join our team to address questions broadly related to terrestrial diversity and ecosystem function in urban areas. Examples of the types of research questions of interest include: 1) how do plant invasions influence (disrupt or enhance) the ecosystem functions provided by urban green areas? 2) How are plant-soil feedbacks affected by urban environments? 3) How does plant diversity (taxonomic, functional, or phylogenetic) influence pollinators (diversity or service provisioning) in urban green areas. Or any other related question. The system: Toronto is uniquely situated to be the focus of urban ecology research as it has a number of large green areas, with the flagship being the new Rouge Urban National Park, situated on the University of Toronto-Scarboroughs doorstep. Further, Toronto contains several replicate watersheds, each with large ravine forests, semi-wild parks, maintained parks, and small green areas. Projects will necessarily involve developing partnerships with local governmental and non-governmental organizations, and the work will be put into a broader context that should benefit outside groups. The person: I am looking for a terrestrial community or ecosystem ecologist with broad ecological interests. Desirable skills/interests include spatial analyses, quantitative modeling, plant-insect interactions, soil biodiversity, functional or phylogenetic diversity, and R programming. Candidates should have strong: conceptual/theoretical understanding of ecological processes; oral and written communication skills; publication record; and an interest in outreach. The candidate should have completed, or nearly completed, a PhD in ecology or related disciplines. The successful candidate will be expected to provide leadership in the lab, and interact with graduate and undergraduate students. The Cadotte lab also has a strong commitment to outreach, running programs with local elementary schools, and the candidate is expected to participate. The place: The University of Toronto-Scarborough (UTSC) is located on the eastern edge of Toronto, and makes up one of the three campuses of the University of Toronto. The tri-campus Ecology and Evolutionary Biology program, which also includes the Royal Ontario Museum (http://www.eeb.utoronto.ca/), is an excellent department with more than 50 faculty members (http://www.eeb.utoronto.ca/people/G-faculty.htm). The candidate will be housed at UTSC, in the Biological Sciences department (http://www.utsc.utoronto.ca/biosci/), which sits on a forested ravine, and is a relatively short commute to the Toronto city centre. UTSC is an exciting place to do research, with a relatively young and active research community, and excellent students. Toronto is Canadas largest city and is extremely culturally diverse, full of parks and green areas, and hosts numerous cultural, culinary, and music events. The position: The start date is flexible, but May 2015 is preferred, and the position is for two years second year contingent on first year performance. The salary is $40,000/year, and comes with a benefits package. Postdocs are unionized at the University of Toronto. The application: Applicants are required to send an updated CV, two representative reprints or preprints, a cover letter and/or statement describing the candidates past experience and accomplishments, interests (generally and with respect to the specifics of this position), and the names and e-mails of at least two references. These materials should be combined into a single pdf document and sent to [email protected]. Applications will be accepted until September 19th, 2014. ####################################### Marc W Cadotte @urban_sci TD Professor of Urban Forest Conservation and Biology Editor, Journal of Applied Ecology Department of Biological Sciences University of Toronto -Scarborough and Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology University of Toronto Office: 416-208-5105 e-mail: [email protected] Web: www.utsc.utoronto.ca/~mcadotte ########################################
