The McCoy lab in the Department of Biology at East Carolina University invites applications from prospective PhD students for Fall 2017 to collaborate on an NSF-funded project on rock pool food webs. Changes in predator diversity via extinction and invasion are increasingly widespread, often with dramatic ecological and socio-economic consequences. However, we still lack the ability to predict how changes in predator diversity cascade through foodwebs and affect ecosystem functions. The funded project integrates natural history, ecological theory, field surveys, experiments, and development of new statistical tools to advance our understanding of the relationship between predator biodiversity, prey populations, and ecosystem function and services. The research will be centered on river rock pools which serve as a tractable natural model system found throughout the Southeastern USA. The collaborative research team includes myself (Mike McCoy- http://mikemccoylab.weebly.com/), and Ben Bolker (http://ms.mcmaster.ca/~bolker/<http://ms.mcmaster.ca/%7Ebolker/>), James Vonesh (http://wp.vcu.edu/voneshlab/), and Jeremy Wojdak (http://www.radford.edu/~jmwojdak/<http://www.radford.edu/%7Ejmwojdak/>). Graduate students will develop independent research projects that fit within the larger framework of the grant.
The ECU Biology raduate program offers competitive stipends, tuition waivers, and there will be ample support for fieldwork available. Successful candidates will have prior research experience, a strong interest in developing quantitative skills, and be highly self-motivated. Prospective students should review my website for additional information and then contact me with a letter of interest, and CV.
