The NSERC-Université Laval Industrial Research Chair in Silviculture and Wildlife has research opportunities for one post-doctoral fellow to participate in its research program. The program seeks to develop silviculture systems suited for the sustainable management of uneven-aged boreal forests. The post-doctoral project should commence no later than August 2010, with a duration of 1-2 years. A fellowship of 35,000$ per year will be available.
Research theme 1: Modelling animal communities in managed boreal forest – The project aims to model animal-habitat relationships in the managed forests of the Côte-Nord region of Québec. The study will integrate information on forest structure, composition, and management with data on animal communities that have been collected as part of the chair’s studies. Species groups to be considered include invertebrates, forest birds, and small mammals. A number of indicator species have been identified in uncut forests. We now need to determine whether these species are also adequate indicators of local species assemblages in post- logging forests. The following article presents one way to analyse the data: Azeria et al. 2009. Diversity and Distributions 15: 958-71. Research theme 2: Response of animal communities to various silvicultural practices – The postdoctoral fellow could characterize the impact of silvicultural practices on the foraging behaviour of small mammals. The results should reveal spatio-temporal variations in the perception of foragers to predation risk and competition intensity. The following paper presents a similar study: Lemaître et al.2010. Evolutionary Ecology Research 12: 203-16. The post-doctoral fellow should also become involved in other on-going studies, such as on woodland caribou. We are therefore looking for candidates with broad interests and skills. Please visit “www.sylvifaune.ulaval.ca” to find out more about the chair’s studies. The post-doctoral fellow will have administrative responsibilities, which include: 1. Writing scientific papers, progress reports, and posters. 2. Helping to plan and supervise fieldwork. 3. Maintaining the project's database, as well as supervising and verifying contributions from employees and students. 4. Developing and maintaining links with practitioners, managers and researchers in order to promote an exchange on chair-related work. 5. Advising and assisting researchers and students in their studies. Qualifications: Hold a PhD in terrestrial ecology, forestry, biostatistics or related field. Have extensive research experience in animal or community ecology. Have in-depth knowledge of ecological modelling and contemporary multivariate statistical methods. Be familiar with the use of Geographic Information Systems. Université Laval is a French university and some basic French is an asset. Documents to provide by email: Applicants for this position should forward me a short cover letter indicating their motivation, accompanied by a current CV and the names and contact information of three references. We will begin to review the applications on 23 August 2010. Daniel Fortin Département de biologie, Pavillon Alexandre-Vachon 1045, av. de la Médecine, Université Laval, Québec (Qc) G1V 0A6, Canada Email: daniel.for...@bio.ulaval.ca
