>PhD: DISPERSAL STRATEGIES & SPACE USE IN BEES, BANGOR/ROTHAMSTED
>
>PhD scholarship: Dispersal strategies and space use in pollinating
>bees, Bangor University and Rothamsted Research.
>
>Quantifying dispersal ability and how organisms navigate through the
>environment is an essential step required to predict how individual
>species will cope with land use changes. There is a growing desire to
>ensure that intensive land use practices are designed in a way that
>maintains stable populations of pollinators. While the field of
>movement ecology has been revolutionised by the advent of ever-lighter
>GPS tracking devices, smaller animals such as pollinating insects have
>yet to benefit from this technological revolution. Working under the
>supervision of collaborators from Rothamsted Research, Bangor
>University and Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) this PhD program
>aims to overcome the shortfall in knowledge about pollinator dispersal.
>Firstly, the student shall use the flight mill system at Rothamsted
>Research to infer the flight abilities of a range of solitary bees,
>bumblebees and honeybees during different phases of their lifecycle.
>Then, with the advent of a novel lightweight radio transponder tracking
>system developed by Dr Paul Cross' team at Bangor University, the
>student shall use a UAV to follow bumblebee queens over long distances
>in the field during the critical dispersal phase of their life cycle.
>The student will be one of the first researchers to use this innovative
>new tracking system. The PhD candidate will be expected to present
>their research at conferences and workshops, as well as publish at
>least one journal article per year. They shall be provided expert
>training in experimental design, analysis and publishing from their
>main supervisors at Rothamsted Research and Bangor University, as well
>as their collaborators at QMUL. The student will undertake a Civil
>Aviation Authority (CAA) certified UAV pilot licensing course, allowing
>them to pilot UAVs commercially in the UK. The skillsets obtained
>during this ground-breaking PhD position will prepare the candidate for a career in movement ecology.
>
>Applicants should hold a minimum of a UK Honours Degree at 2:1 level or
>equivalent in subjects such as Ecology, Biology, Environmental Science,
>and Agriculture
>
>A full studentship is available to UK and EU candidates who have been
>ordinarily resident in the UK throughout the 3-year period immediately
>preceding the date of an award. EU candidates who have not been
>resident in the UK for the last 3 years are eligible for "tuition fees-only"
>awards (no maintenance grant).
>
>For more information and to apply, see:
>www.findaphd.com/search/ProjectDetails.aspx?PJID=89686
>
>Closing date for applications: January 14, 2018
>
>----------
>POSTDOC: ECO-PHYSIOLOGY OF FUNGUS-FARMING ANTS, COPENHAGEN
>
>Postdoctoral Fellowship in Eco-Physiology and Molecular Ecology,
>Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen
>
>A two-year postdoctoral fellowship on the eco-physiology of
>fungus-farming ants is available from June 1, 2018 in the Section for
>Ecology and Evolution within the Department of Biology at the
>University of Copenhagen in Denmark.
>
>The fellowship will be part of a 5-year research project financed by an
>ERC Starting Grant. Led by Assistant Professor Jonathan Shik
>(www.jonathanshik.com), the project will be based in the thriving
>research environment of the Centre for Social Evolution
>(http://socialevolution.ku.dk/home/), and will involve fieldwork in the
>Panamanian tropical rainforests at the Smithsonian Tropical Research
>Institute (http://www.stri.si.edu/). The successful applicant will have
>experience and interest in ecology, evolution, physiology, microbial
>ecology, and molecular techniques.
>
>Project Overview
>The project will focus on the remarkable lineage of leafcutter ants
>(genus Atta) that harvest fresh vegetation and use it as compost to
>produce domesticated fungal crops in huge underground nests that feed
>massive super organismal colonies with millions of workers. We will
>explore how leafcutter ants have managed to grow a single cultivar
>lineage from Texas to Argentina, thriving across extreme contemporary
>rainfall and temperature gradients and across diverse climates over
>millions of years. Projects will combine field experiments in
>Panamanian rainforests and integrative laboratory studies of cultivar
>gene expression to resolve the mechanisms governing the resilience of
>industrial-scale fungus farming in ants within diverse tropical insect
>communities.
>
>The deadline for applications is February 15, 2018 at 11:59 PM CET.
>
>For more details and information about how to apply, see:
>http://employment.ku.dk/faculty/?show=146492
>
>----------
>POSTDOC: VIRAL EVOLUTION IN BEES, HALLE, GERMANY
>
>1 year 5 month postdoc on viral evolution in bees
>
>A postdoctoral researcher is sought for a project on the evolutionary
>ecology of viruses in bees within Robert Paxton's lab at the University
>of Halle, Germany. The overarching goal of the research is to
>understand the role of viral epidemiology and evolutionary change for
>pathogen emergence and host switching; the project is embedded within
>the DFG's priority program: Ecology and Species Barriers in Emerging
>Viral Diseases (SPP 1596). Requirements sought: a highly motivated
>individual; experience in, or knowledge of, evolutionary modelling and
>bioinformatics; an interest in host-parasite interactions.
>Opportunities exist to develop the research through lab and field-based
>experiments as well as molecular genetic analysis of bees and their viruses in the lab.
>
>The working language of the lab is English. The neighbouring group of
>Robin Mortiz makes for a strong profile in bee biology and genetics at
>the University of Halle. The position is available for 1 year and 5
>months and, though the start date is flexible, we seek a person to
>commence research during spring 2018. Halle is a delightful, historical
>city approximately 1.5 hours SW of Berlin. The salary is on the
>standard German postdoc scale E13, which translates to approximately
>Euro 51-57 K per annum (dependent on experience).
>
>Further details of the position can be obtained from Robert Paxton
>(robert.paxton@zoologie-uni-halle.de), to whom applications should be
>sent by 15 February 2018 as a single pdf file to include: cover letter
>referring to "position 5-12596/17-D", cv, list of publications, a
>statement of research interests and goals (maximum 1 page), and contact
>details of two referees. Interviews are planned for March 2018, with a
>start date in April or as soon as possible thereafter.
>
--
Dr. Jessica K. Abbott
Senior University Lecturer
Department of Biology
Section for Evolutionary Ecology
Lund University
Sölvegatan 37
223 62 Lund, Sweden
Phone: 046 222 9304
Website: http://jessicakabbott.com
"It is those who know little, and not those who know much, who so positively assert that this or that problem will never be solved by science."
- Charles Darwin, Descent of Man
