Postdoctoral positions: Community Ecology & Conservation We are seeking to fill two postdoctoral positions in our lab. We are especially interested in candidates with a focussed interest on community ecology, landscape ecology, landscape genetics, biogeography or conservation biology. Both Chinese and foreign nationals are encouraged to apply. Applicants will develop their own research proposals in consultation with the PI (Kyle Tomlinson) that either match existing research programmes in our group (see website: www.communityecologyconservation.com), or are encapsulated by the topics listed above. Applicants must have a demonstrated track record of first-author publication in international journals.
Our location in Yunnan Province, southwestern China, is ideally situated for testing questions on the ecology and conservation of terrestrial communities. In our immediate vicinity, local tropical forest has been massively reduced and fragmented as a consequence of conversion to rubber plantations, meaning that there are serious conservation questions regarding long-term viability of biota within these fragmented landscapes. At the wider scale, Yunnan Province is a biodiversity hotspot characterised by huge topographical and environmental variation, lending itself to the study of community assembly and functional diversity at different spatial scales. Who are we? We are the Community Ecology & Conservation Group at the Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden (XTBG, www.xtbg.ac.cn), a research institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (www.communityecologyconservation.com). Our present research covers topics from evaluating consequences of landscape fragmentation for conservation of the remaining biota of southwest China through to answering basic ecological questions addressing the evolution and distribution of ecological strategies across resource and disturbance gradients. We offer: 1. Access to start-of-the-art analysis facilities within the Institute, greenhouse facilities and long- term research sites. The appointees will also receive a dedicated budget to support their research. Further funding is also accessible subject to CV quality and to satisfactory progress. 2. Access to XTBGs network of research sites across Yunnan province. 3. A fixed-term contract of 2 years for foreign nationals with options for extension for one year subject to satisfactory progress. 4. An exceptional environment for studying ecology and biodiversity, enthusiastic and productive staff and students to work with, and a great place to live. Applying for the positions: Applicants should submit a CV including contact details for three references, statement of research interests/plans, and pdfs of up to three publications. Please send these materials to Dr. Kyle Tomlinson ([email protected]).
