*PhD position available to study spatial ecology of bumble bee pollinators of blueberry in Canada *
We are seeking a graduate student to begin work on a PhD in January 2018, to join the labs of Paul Galpern and Ralph Cartar at the University of Calgary, in a biology department with considerable expertise in pollination, pollinator ecology, and beneficial insects. The funded research will involve landscape-scale study of wild-nesting bumble bee pollinators of blueberries in the Fraser Valley, British Columbia. It will examine landscape context, off-crop foraging alternatives, distance-based foraging, foraging competitors, and reproductive success of bumble bee colonies in the context of wild bumble bees providing pollination ecosystem services to blueberry crops. The project will involve an integration of landscape ecology, behavioural ecology, and chemical ecology, and will span basic and applied ecology. Applications are welcome immediately, and selection of a candidate will likely happen before 31 October 2017. Canadian applicants already holding an MSc would best fit the short timeline for entry into the program by January 2018. Salary stipend is $23,000 CAD per year, some of which would obtain from TAing a course in the Fall term. To apply, please email a statement of interest, a CV, and the names of 3 referees to: Paul Galpern <paul.galp...@ucalgary.ca> or Ralph Cartar < car...@ucalgary.ca>
