[ECOLOG-L] PhD OPPORTUNITY: nitrogen cycling in Australian forest under elevated CO2

[Yolima Carrillo]

The Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment (HIE) is one of four institutes 
within Western Sydney University. HIE is a research leader in ecosystem 
function and environmental responses to changing climate. HIE 
holds a unique suite of world-class research facilities and houses a team of 
over 50 scientists: www.westernsydney.edu.au/hie

A scholarship is available for a highly motivated PhD student to contribute 
to a new Australian Research Council Discovery project on the responses of 
mature native Eucalypt forests to elevated CO2. This multidisciplinary 
project asks how changes in ecosystem N balance occur, by investigating if 
leaf N declines under enriched CO2 directly due to the balance of plant 
activity versus changes in soil N availability. The research will utilise 
the EucFACE (Eucalypt Free Air CO2 Enrichment) experiment. EucFACE is the 
world's only Free Air CO2 Enrichment experiment in mature native forest: 
www.westernsydney.edu.au/hie/facilities/EucFACE. 

The aim of the PhD project is to investigate the processes involved in 
changing soil N availability. Various concurrent mechanisms can change 
ecosystem N availability in under elevated CO2, with feedbacks for primary 
productivity. This diversity of mechanisms has prevented clear explanation 
of long-term patterns of N availability responses. Also, the study of these 
processes has taken place in systems where trees are still in growing phase, 
limiting the scope of the findings. 

The PhD student will be based at HIE, in Sydney,  and will be expected to 
conduct a combination of field and controlled environment studies utilizing 
stable isotope tracing and modeling. The student will join a large and 
diverse cohort of scientists at all career levels currently working at 
EucFACE.

Applicants should discuss their eligibility and interests with Dr Yolima 
Carrillo +61 (02) 4570 1494 or via email at y.carri...@westernsydney.edu.au

More details on the position and how to apply are included in the official 
flyer: 
www.westernsydney.edu.au/hie/opportunities/advertisements/hdr_scholarship_in
_nitrogen_under_elevated_co2


Yolima Carrillo
Researcher
Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment
Western Sydney University

[ECOLOG-L] REU -Responses of plant-microbe interactions to climate change

[Yolima Carrillo]

REU opportunity for studying responses of plant-microbe interactions to
climate change in grasslands

A summer Research Experience for Undergraduates position is available to
work on an NSF sponsored project investigating responses of plant-microbe
interactions to climate change in native and disturbed grassland communities
in Wyoming.

This project examines community level rhizosphere processes driving
ecosystem responses to elevated CO2 and warming. Research utilizes a wide
variety of stable isotope and molecular techniques and combines the study of
the responses of plant and microbial communities structure and function.
Questions include the role of stoichiometry as well as invasive species on
nutrient and C cycling responses to climate change factors. Field research
takes place at an ongoing, state-of-the-art, manipulative climate change
experiment in grassland near Cheyenne, Wyoming, the Prairie Heating and CO2
Enrichment (PHACE) experiment. The PHACE experiment is one of only a few in
the world where both atmospheric CO2 and temperature are manipulated. 

The REU scholar will work in the laboratory of Dr. Elise Pendall at the
University of Wyoming in Laramie and will collaborate with researchers from
Colorado State University and the USDA Agricultural Research Station in Fort
Collins, Colorado. The REU scholar will have the option to participate in
the design and execution of field and/or laboratory experiments and will be
jointly mentored by Dr. Pendall and a group of graduate student and
postdoctoral researchers. The selected student will become familiarized with
state- of-the-art compound-specific, stable isotope experimental and
analytical techniques. 

A generous weekly stipend is available for 12-14 weeks, preferably starting
in early May. Eligibility requires enrollment in an undergraduate degree
program in biology, ecology or soil science with expected graduation not
before Dec. 2011. 

For more information on the project and the field experiment visit Dr. Elise
Pendall’s website:  

https://sites.google.com/site/pendalllab/

and the PHACE experiment’s website:

http://www.ars.usda.gov/Research/docs.htm?docid=16756 

To apply, submit a resume, one page letter of interest, and transcripts to
Elise Pendall (pend...@uwyo.edu) and Yolima Carrillo (dcarr...@uwyo.edu) by
April 1, 2011. Please contact Yolima Carrillo or Elise Pendall for questions.

NSF requires that participants are U.S. citizens or permanent residents of
the U.S. and its territories.