Two PhD Research Assistantships in Stream Ecology – University of Oklahoma and Kansas State University
We seek two highly motivated doctoral students to join a National Science Foundation funded project investigating how interacting consumer aggregations influence resource distribution and fluxes in streams. Stream fish and mussel assemblages are known to generate biogeochemical hotspots, but have very different characteristics based on species life history and behavior. Long-lived mussels are localized, stable, immobile, long-term hotspots that provide relatively constant nutrient subsidies. Shorter-lived fishes are mobile, widespread, short-term hotspots that provide nutrient subsidies more dependent on hydrologic conditions. Our project investigates how these two important hotspots overlap and interact to influence the functioning of stream networks. The project includes extensive field studies, mesocosm experiments and modeling. This project is a collaboration between the Caryn Vaughn lab at the University of Oklahoma and the Keith Gido lab at Kansas State University. One student will work with Vaughn in the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Graduate Program through the Department of Biology at OU. One student will work with Gido through the Division of Biology at KSU. Field studies will be performed in the Kiamichi and Little Rivers in southeastern Oklahoma. Mesocosm experiments will be conducted at the Konza Prairie Biological Station at KSU, an NSF LTER site. Students will be encouraged to develop dissertation research within the broader scope of the project. Preferred applicants will have earned a M.S. degree and exhibit equal enthusiasm for field-based work and experimentation in the laboratory. For more information, please visit our web sites listed below or contact Caryn Vaughn ([email protected], (405) 325-4034) or Keith Gido ([email protected], (785) 532-5088). Application deadline: January 31 2015 Application materials: Please send a brief cover letter, resume, transcripts, GRE scores, and contact information for two references to either [email protected] (OU position) or [email protected] (KSU position). Further information: Vaughn Lab: http://carynvaughn.com/ Gido Lab: http://www.k-state.edu/fishecology OU – Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Graduate Program: http://www.ou.edu/eeb/ OU – Department of Biology: http://www.ou.edu/cas/biology KSU - Division of Biology at KSU: http://www.k-state.edu/biology KSU - Konza Prairie Biological Station: http://kpbs.konza.k-state.edu KSU - Konza Prairie LTER: http://www.konza.ksu.edu/knz/pages/home/home.aspx
