PhD opportunity in biology/paleontology at the University of Alabama The recently NSF-funded project “Energetic Controls on Marine Benthic Community Structure in Space and Time” aims to (1) evaluate how productivity affects the energetic and trophic structure of marine benthic communities on either side of the modern Isthmus of Panama, where there is now a strong contrast between the high productivity, upwelling-dominated regime of the eastern Pacific and the low-productivity, low-seasonality regime of the Caribbean (2) use this knowledge to evaluate the fossil record of Caribbean benthic ecosystems before, during, and after the uplift of the isthmus during which planktonic productivity decreased in the Caribbean and (3) relate ecosystem changes driven by productivity shifts to the well documented Caribbean extinction event ~2 Ma. This is a project in collaboration with colleagues and their students/postdoc at the Ohio State University (Dr. Jill Leonard-Pingel), the University of California Berkeley (Dr. Seth Finnegan), and the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (Dr. Aaron O’Dea). One key component of this project is to assess biotic interactions such as predator-prey interactions using fossil and modern molluscan assemblages from both sides of the Isthmus of Panama. I am recruiting a PhD student for the Fall 2025 semester with a background in biology, paleontology, and/or geology who has an interest in biotic interactions and quantitative methods. While the study will use pre-existing collections, there is a trip to Panama included. For interested candidates, please get in touch with Dr. Adiel Klompmaker ([email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>), preferably sending along a CV. The student will be supported for 5 semesters as a graduate research assistant and as graduate teaching assistant for the remainder of the PhD program. Conference support is provided. The student will be part of the Department of Biological Sciences or the Department of Geological Sciences at the University of Alabama depending on the background of the student. Apply to one of these departments through https://graduate.ua.edu/applicants/ Applications are due on 10 December 2024.
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