PhD Research Assistantship in carnivore ecology (20 hours per week) We are looking for a motivated PhD applicant with strong quantitative skills to join the Conservation Ecology Lab in the Department of Biological Sciences at Ohio University starting in Fall 2018. This is a graduate research assistantship position under the supervision of Dr. Viorel Popescu. Our lab is working with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources on a project aimed at understanding the status of Ohio’s recovering bobcat population.
Applicants must be eligible for unconditional admission to the Ph.D. program in Biological Sciences, and have some familiarity with wildlife data hierarchical modeling methods (occupancy, capture-recapture) and spatial ecology, and experience with non-invasive field methods (camera trapping, hair and scat sampling). Research opportunities include analysis of existing bobcat datasets gathered by Ohio DNR, and collection of new non-invasive data on Ohio’s bobcats and carnivore community. The end goal will be to develop a population model to inform bobcat management and conservation in Ohio. There is potential to supplement the Ohio bobcat work with field research on Eurasian lynx ecology in the Romanian Carpathians (in collaboration with Romanian and Slovenian researchers; more information at: https://lifeslovenija.si/en/preventing-the-extinction-of-the-dinaric-se- alpine-lynx-population-through-reinforcement-and-long-term- conservation/). The applicant will have the opportunity to develop their own research goals related to the broader projects. The research assistantship is funded for up to 3 years through an Ohio DNR grant. Funding includes a stipend and tuition waiver. Additional funding after the grant ends is available through a teaching assistantship from the Department of Biological Sciences. Applications are due in early January 2018, but I encourage interested students to contact me well before this date. Please send an email to pope...@ohio.edu, including a brief statement that describes your research interests and why you are interested in graduate school, and attach your CV and an unofficial transcript. Please see the lab website for more information: http://vioreldpopescu.com and find information about applying to Ohio University Biological Sciences here: https://www.ohio.edu/cas/biosci/grad/bios-grad-admissions.cfm. Applicants must have completed a U.S. bachelor’s degree or its equivalent by August 25, 2017; applicants who already hold a MSc degree are preferred. Applicants who are not native English language speakers must submit evidence of English proficiency as outlined in the Graduate Catalog, www.ohio.edu/graduate/catalog. Ohio University does not discriminate against any person in employment or educational opportunities because of race, color, religion, age, ethnicity, national origin, national ancestry, sex, pregnancy, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, military service or veteran status, mental or physical disability, or genetic information. Ohio University is an equal access/equal opportunity affirmative action university.
