The Landscape Ecology lab at the University of Montana is seeking a graduate student to start Spring/Fall 2019. Prospective applicants with adequate experience may be hired as early as Fall 2018 as a research analyst.
Climate change ranks highly among the grand challenges our planet faces. Relevant to assessing this challenge is quantifying climate change exposure: How will the future climate at a site differ from historical norms? Or to cast this into a spatial context: Are there observable climates elsewhere that resemble the future conditions at a site? The latter provides an intuitive means for understanding, visualizing, projecting, and adapting to climate change impacts. Such non-local climates that represent the future conditions of a site are known as climate analogs. The space-for-time approach used in the development of climate analogs is fundamental to many modeling approaches aimed at forecasting climate change impacts in natural systems. However, there are significant gaps in our understanding of whether a space-for-time framework can adequately capture the broader spectrum of climate statistics that are often linked to environmental and societal impacts. The proposed PhD/MS work will address the utility of climate analogs for projecting climate change impacts and develop means to validate these approaches. Competitive applicants will have a background in ecology, climate science, earth sciences, biology, or physics. Preferred applicants will have previous research experience and strong quantitative skills in statistics, computer programming, and data visualization using R, Python, or similar. The position will be funded through research and teaching assistantships. Tuition, medical insurance, and fees will be covered. To apply, email a cover letter stating your research interests and qualifications, your CV with names and contact information for 2-3 references, unofficial transcripts, and GRE scores to Dr. Solomon Dobrowski ([email protected]). Review of applicants will begin immediately and continue until the position is filled. Please contact me if you have any questions or to arrange a phone call. Missoula Montana is a great place to live particularly if you like mountains, rivers, and outdoor recreation. Missoula is also a vibrant community of ~ 70,000 people. To learn more about the Franke College of Forestry and Conservation visit http://www.cfc.umt.edu . To learn more about the Landscape Ecology lab visit: http://www.cfc.umt.edu/research/forestlandscapeecologylab/default.php and my research: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=qSRZ0hJjhPsC&hl=en
