[ECOLOG-L] PhD Studentship, University of Exeter, Population Dynamics and Environmental Change

[Stuart Townley]

PhD Studentship, Mathematical Ecology - Population Dynamics and Environmental 
Change.
University of Exeter, Cornwall Campus, UK

Primary supervisor: Professor Stuart Townley (email s.b.town...@ex.ac.uk)
Start date: 1st October 2012.

Species evolve. Species invade. Species go extinct. Such biological phenomena 
have fascinated 
mathematicians and statisticians for over a century, yielding today’s 
state-of-the-art mathematical 
and statistical modelling and analysis tools including: Adaptive dynamics for 
evolution; invasion 
exponents for invasions; and meta-population analysis for extinction. But the 
environment is 
changing, with patterns of environmental disturbance becoming more intense and 
temporally and 
spatially clustered. The project will consider issues such as: How are life 
histories shaped by 
environmental disturbance? How do the fluctuating dynamics of one species, 
population or 
community act to mitigate, buffer, attenuate or amplify the effects of 
environmental disturbance 
on another? How can we untangle the relative importance of competing effects 
such as transients, 
diffusion, un-modelled dynamics and density dependence? The PhD project will be 
located in the 
University of Exeter Environment  Sustainability Institute, a £30 million 
centre leading cutting-
edge and interdisciplinary research into solutions to problems of environmental 
change.

Three-year studentship: Tuition fees (UK/EU) and an annual maintenance 
allowance at current UK 
Research Council rate. 

To apply see: http://www.exeter.ac.uk/studying/funding/award/?id=924 

Deadline: 30th March 2012

[ECOLOG-L] Post Doc at University of Exeter - Modelling Biological Invasions

[Stuart Townley]

University of Exeter, UK

Colleges of Engineering, Mathematics  Physical Sciences, and Life amp; 
Environmental Sciences

Mathematics Research Institute/Centre for Ecology and Conservation

Associate Research Fellow, Reference Number N3293

Salary £24,370 to £26,063 per annum on GradeE

Biological invasion processes - Control systems methodologies for modelling and 
analysis 

The Colleges wish to recruit an Associate Research Fellow to support the work 
of Stuart Townley 
(Professor of Applied Mathematics, Environment  Sustainability Institute) and 
David Hodgson 
(Senior Lecturer, Centre for Ecology  Conservation) in collaboration with 
Hartmut Logemann 
(Professor of Mathematics, University of Bath) on the EPSRC funded project: 
Biological invasion 
processes - Control systems methodologies for modelling and analysis. The post 
will be based at 
the University of Exeter’s Cornwall Campus and is available from October 2011.

The successful applicant will work at the interface between Systems  Control, 
Applied 
Mathematics and Ecology and will contribute to an integrated modelling and 
analysis approach for 
population dynamics. He/she will analyse, predict and quantify envelopes of 
future population 
dynamics by developing mathematical and systems  control concepts, results and 
techniques. 
He/she will join an inter-disciplinary team dedicated to developing novel 
mathematical tools that 
improve the predictive capabilities of ecological models. Results will have 
critical implications for 
the conservation and sustainable exploitation of biological resources, 
globally. 

The post duties will include: quantify and qualify model structure in a 
database of population 
projection matrix models; explore the role of uncertainty and non-normality in 
projection models; 
develop input-to-state stability concepts for population dynamics in disturbed 
environments; 
develop integral projection models for coupled invasion dynamics; analyse 
biological invasion 
dynamics from a robustness viewpoint. This project represents a paradigm shift 
in how 
mathematicians and ecologists view real-world population dynamics. The 
successful applicant will 
be able to present information on research progress and outcomes, communicate 
complex 
information, orally, in writing and electronically and help prepare proposals 
and applications to 
external bodies. The research team emphasises the dissemination of findings in 
the best scientific 
journals and at international conferences.

Applicants will possess a relevant PhD and be able to demonstrate sufficient 
knowledge in the 
discipline and be able to work independently and with team members by drawing 
on expertise in 
control theory and/or population dynamics and/or dynamical systems and 
computation.

The starting salary will be from £24,370 to £26,063 per annum on Grade E, 
depending on 
qualifications and experience. 

For further information please contact Professor Stuart Townley, e-mail 
s.b.town...@ex.ac.uk or 
telephone (01326) 317200. To apply, please send your CV and covering letter, 
with contact details 
of three referees, to Professor Stuart Townley.

The closing date for completed applications is September 16th and interviews 
will take place in the 
middle of October.