Graduate Student Position: Genetic Monitoring of Pygmy Rabbits We are recruiting a graduate student to conduct a conservation genetics/genomics projects on the Columbia Basin pygmy rabbit (Brachylagus idahoensis). This species was extirpated in Washington, and captive breeding, translocation, and reintroduction efforts have been conducted to re-establish a wild population of this federally endangered population. To date, on-site breeding has produced a large number of rabbits for release, however, relatively few have been detected surviving and reproducing in the wild. Our team has worked collaboratively with the USFWS and the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife to develop and apply genetic tools to inform management decisions during the breeding, translocation, and initial releases. This graduate student project has 3 main objectives that build on these efforts: 1) to conduct non-invasive, genetic monitoring of the captive breeding and released populations, 2) to develop and evaluate an index of rabbit abundance and density using data from winter surveys of active burrows that can be used for long-term monitoring and 3) to develop a single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) dataset and methods for monitoring Columbia Basin pygmy rabbits. The graduate student will conduct field work and laboratory work on this species and lead an experiential learning course to involve undergraduate students in the winter burrow monitoring. Our faculty research team includes Lisette Waits and Janet Rachlow (Dept Fish and Wildlife Sciences University of Idaho), Paul Hohenlohe (Dept of Biological Sciences University of Idaho), and Lisa Shipley (Washington State University). This project could be a MS or PhD level project and students can choose to obtain a graduate degree in Natural Resources or Bioinformatics and Computational Biology at the University of Idaho. We would like the student to start between August 2016 and November 2016. If interested, please send the following in a single PDF: 1) Letter of interest, 2) resume, 3) GRE scores and course transcripts (unofficial fine), and 4) names and contact information for 3 references to Lisette Waits [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> by May 10th.
Lisette Lisette Waits, PhD Distinguished Professor Department Head Dept Fish and Wildlife Sciences University of Idaho 875 Perimeter Drive MS 1136 Moscow ID 83844-1136 Phone: (208) 885 7823 http://www.uidaho.edu/cnr/faculty/waits
