The University of Alabama has an immediate opportunity for a student to pursue a PhD in the Staudhammer Lab in the Department of Biological Sciences (http://bsc.ua.edu/about/faculty-directory/christina-l-staudhammer/). A highly motivated graduate student is required to work in synthesizing urban forestry data from the southeastern US and Puerto Rico. Specifically, we aim to answer questions about urban forest structure and function, and the ecosystem services they provide. We also seek to test hypotheses about the resistance and resilience of these systems to increasing anthropogenic pressures, such as a changing climate.
The student will be co-advised by Dr. Gregory Starr and also interact with the Plant Physiological Ecology / Global Change Lab (http://starrlab.ua.edu). This project also offer the opportunity to interact with researchers from the USDA forest service, as well as researchers across universities in the US and Columbia. The student's research interests should include ecological modeling, forest biometrics, and/or urban ecosystems. A solid background in statistics is required, and a knowledge of SAS and/or R programming languages. Interested students would apply for the Ph.D. program within the Department of Biological Sciences. To be eligible, students must meet the graduate admission requirements of the University of Alabama: an undergraduate GPA > 3.0 overall, 3.0 for the last 60 semester hours in a degree program, or 3.0 for a completed graduate degree program, AND a 300 on the revised GRE test (or a 1000 on the GRE general test). Applicants with previous research experiences will be favored for the position. Support is by teaching assistantship with summer funding opportunities (depending on the area of research interest). Interested students should send a copy of their CV, statement of research interest, and unofficial copy of transcripts to Dr. Christina Staudhammer or contact Dr. Staudhammer for more details (cstaudham...@ua.edu) or 205-348-1538.
