Postdoctoral Research Associate - Community Ecology A Postdoctoral Research Associate position is available at the Tyson Research Center in the lab of Dr. Jon Chase at Washington University in St. Louis. While the specific topics of research are flexible, preference will be given to individuals with research interests on issues related to biodiversity patterns across spatio-temporal scales, community assembly, and/or food web interactions, as well as how those issues are influenced by land-use changes and/or can inform the restoration of degraded ecosystems. Applicants are encouraged to develop collaborative research that is complementary to a variety of ongoing research projects, including surveys of biodiversity in aquatic (e.g., ponds) and terrestrial (e.g., forest, glade, prairie) meta-communities, large-scale restoration experiments in Ozark glades, prairies, and forests, and/or community assembly and food web interactions in experimental ponds. Applicants with strong quantitative skills (e.g., simulation, analytical and/or statistical modeling), and interests in applying those skills to empirical questions, are particularly encouraged to apply. Empirical research must be primarily based on the grounds Washington University's Tyson Research Center (http://www.tyson.wustl.edu/), a field station ~20 miles from the main campus of Washington University, and a network of nearby natural areas, including the Missouri Botanical Garden's Shaw Nature Reserve, many State and County Parks, and lands owned by the Missouri Department of Conservation. Opportunities also exist for comparative projects across larger biogeographic networks of field sites. The successful candidate will be primarily based at the field station during the spring/summer field season, and on campus during the school year.
While this is primarily a research position, the postdoctoral associate should have an expressed interest in mentoring undergraduate researchers and high school interns as part of their research program, and in being an active and dynamic member of a growing community of researchers at the field station. To that end, in addition to mentoring students, the successful candidate will be a co-leader of a ‘seminar-style’ course for undergraduates that meets weekly during the winter term (Practical Skills for Environmental Biology Research), preparing students for their summer research experiences. Funding for salary and modest research expenses is available for one year with the possibility of extension for a second (or even third) year. Start date is flexible, but would preferably be between January-March 2011. Applications will begin to be considered on July 23, 2010, but will be accepted until the position is filled. However, candidates are encouraged to send an email indicating interest in the position as soon as possible. To apply, in a single .pdf file, please send your CV, a succinct (1-2 page) statement of research interests focusing on projects that could be conducted while working at Washington University’s Tyson Research Center and surrounding lands, and names and contact information of three references electronically to Dr. Jon Chase, Dept. of Biology, Washington University in Saint Louis (jch...@wustl.edu).
