*We are looking for a graduate student volunteer to assist with field work in Churchill, Manitoba at the (http://www.churchillscience.ca/) from July 20-July 31st (project description below). Preference will be given to graduate students already in the region or who can pay their own travel expenses to Churchill. All costs at the station will be covered. Suitable candidates will have firearms training (or are willing to acquire it) and a valid first aid certification. Duties will include assisting with field-work (collecting aquatic meiofauna) and taking physicochemical measurements in coastal rock pools. Must be physically fit, have a drivers license, and be comfortable working around polar bears. Candidates will 2-3 previous years of arctic field-work experience may also be eligible to assist with field work in Resolute Bay and Devon Island (Nunavut) ( http://www.arctic.uoguelph.ca/cpl/links_researchers/research/publications/stations/truelove/truelove.htm) from August 1-15th.
Project Description The objective of this research is to determine how species-poor, cold-adapted Arctic rock pool communities and species respond to species loss and the thermal aspects of climate change and to ascertain how these responses differ from similar systems in warmer regions. *Northern ecosystems have three unique properties that may render them particularly susceptible to the effects of climate change and species loss: (1) they are relatively species-poor; (2) they have relatively low habitat diversity; (3) they are composed of cold-adapted organisms. These three features suggest that it will be harder for northern systems to resist and recover from changes associated with climate change (rising temperatures, increased frequency and severity of climatic events, species loss, etc.); however, comparative studies that explicitly address this question are rare. Using small aquatic ponds (rock pools) as a focal ecosystem, the research proposed here will determine how species-poor, cold-adapted rock pool communities respond to species loss and climate change (temperature changes in particular) and to ascertain how these responses differ from similar rock pool systems in warmer regions. -- Tamara N. Romanuk, Ph.D. Assistant Professor Department of Biology, Dalhousie University 1355 Oxford Street, Halifax, Nova Scotia Canada, B3H 4J1 Tel: 902-494-4515, Cell: 902-412-2886 Fax: 902-494-3736, Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] or [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.foodwebs.org http://myweb.dal.ca/tm632910
