Ph.D. opportunity in metacommunity ecology Project description. We are seeking a PhD student to study the ecological factors structuring metacommunities. The overall theme of the project is to better understand the complex interplay between environmental heterogeneity, community interactions and dispersal on the spatial and temporal structuring of ecological communities. The exact design will depend on the interests and experience of the student, but the focus is mainly theoretical and the general framework is based on simulation models considering four main processes: (a) ecological interactions, (b) environmental heterogeneity, (c) functional complexity and (d) evolutionary relationships among species. The project will also look into the development of novel statistical frameworks to understand the links and interactions between environmental features, species interactions, spatial scaling and dispersal in real ecological communities. We have extensive data sets on forest and aquatic ecosystems that will be used in this research component.
Qualifications. An MSc degree in biology, environmental sciences, mathematics or informatics is ideal, but other fields may be considered. Applicants should have a demonstrated interest in ecological complexity, a good statistical basis and some programming skills or at least a strong interest in learning it. An interest in using novel analytical approaches, such as Bayesian and multivariate statistics, is considered a valuable asset. We especially encourage creative students who are adept at working in teams and have good writing and communication skills. Instructions. Applications, including a letter describing research interests, a CV, copies of transcripts and the contact information (address, email and phone) for two references, or any questions about the project should be directed to dominique_gra...@uqar.qc.ca. The starting date is January 2011. The project will be conducted under the co-supervision of Pedro Peres-Neto (UQAM: Université du Québec à Montréal) and Dominique Gravel (UQAR: Université du Québec à Rimouski) across both institutions. The student will be registered in the shared graduate program in Biological sciences. Pedro Peres-Neto is specialized in developing new statistical methods to analyze the spatial organization of metacommunities. Dominique Gravel is a theoretical ecologist working on the spatial dynamics and organization of trophic metacommunities and metaecosystems. Both institutions are francophone and although applicants are not obliged to speak French, they should have an interest in learning it.
