A post-doctoral research position is available to work in the applied population ecology lab at Penn State (http://appliedpopecol.org/) on two projects that both employ long-term mark-recapture data sets to examine demographic patterns in reptiles. The first project is funded by NIH to look at aging in turtles. The focal population is a 30 year study of painted turtles in the Midwest (http://www.pnas.org/content/113/23/6502.abstract), with the potential to also use other long-term turtle data sets. The second project is again a long-term study (40+ years) of garter snake populations in California (doi/10.1890/10-1438.1) funded by NSF. The goal of this project is to understand the inter- relationship between climate, individual physiology (condition, immune-function, and stress), and demographic responses in multiple populations of two species in the Eagle Lake area of California. The post-doc will be tasked with analyzing the long-term data and contributing to the overall goals of the two projects. The focus of both is on demography and estimating demographic parameters and the person filling the position should have experience and interest in this area. The position would be a good fit for a person with interests in any of the following: quantitative ecology, applied population ecology, and/or evolutionary ecology. The post-doc will be given flexibility, within the basic parameters of each of the projects, to contribute to the collaborative efforts. Areas where significant contributions may be made include: 1) the joint modeling of growth and survival to improve estimates of age-specific fitness; 2) comparative demography of aging, 3) influence of early-life conditions on demography, 4) linking physiology measures to fitness and population growth rate; 5) measuring effects of climate change on structured metapopulations; and 6) using structural equation models to understand population responses in complex systems. To apply, submit a CV, cover letter, and contact information for 3 references at: https://psu.jobs/job/74192. Review of applications will begin in mid-November with the goal of having someone start sometime after the new year (start date may be flexible). Any questions can be directed to David Miller ([email protected]). Other collaborators on the project include Dr. Anne Bronikowski and Fred Janzen at Iowa State University and Dr. Amanda Sparkman at Westmont University. Our goal is to build a diverse and vibrant lab group and strongly encourage all who are qualified and interested to apply. Penn State is an equal opportunity, affirmative action employer, and is committed to providing employment opportunities to all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or protected veteran status.
