PhD students wanted: developing community ecology theory and testing it with microbes
Chris Klausmeier and Elena Litchman are looking for PhD students to work on various aspects of theoretical and empirical community ecology using microbes as a model system. Potential projects include developing and applying trait-based approaches to community ecology of microbes, community assembly, invasibility and robustness, eco-evolutionary models of community structure, macroecological patterns, global change effects on microbial communities and resulting feedbacks, experimental evolution, local adaptation and others. We work mostly with marine and freshwater phytoplankton but are developing novel frameworks for other microbial systems, including host-associated microbiota. See http://preston.kbs.msu.edu/reprints/ for examples of recent work. We are based at Kellogg Biological Station of Michigan State University (www.kbs.msu.edu) and have excellent laboratory facilities and field sites, as well as access to modern computational resources. KBS carries out top-notch research in ecology and evolution in a highly interactive social atmosphere. Deadline for MSU grad school applications is December 1. Contact Elena Litchman ([email protected]) or Chris Klausmeier ([email protected]) for details.
