Master of Science Degree Position: Graduate Department Program in Ecology at Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA. Advisor: Dr David Cooper Project Title: Examine methods for establishing vegetation on a constructed fen in Alberta’s oil sands region Start of term: May 2018 Project background: Northern Alberta contains the largest deposit of oil sands in the world and conventional open-pit mining used to access portions of the deposit removes large expanses of upland forests and peatland basins. After years of forest and open-water wetland reclamation, industry partners and restoration scientists have constructed the first self-sustaining reclamation fen and associated watershed (the Fen) on a mine near Fort McMurray, Alberta. This project is a collaboration between Colorado State University (CSU) and Waterloo University, involving fen ecology, hydrology, and geography. Funding has been granted from industry partners and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. The overall research goal is to evaluate the Fen's design, compare it to regional natural fen systems, and develop a globally applicable strategy for similar peatland reclamation projects. A multi-factorial design was planted in 2013 to determine the most effective method to establish mosses and plants. After four years of evaluation, a second phase will be implemented in 2018 to further evaluate methods that were most successful during the first phase. A Master's position is now available, under the guidance of Dr. David Cooper at CSU. The candidate will help design and implement a field experiment to develop methods of introducing vegetation to the constructed fen. Topics of research could include; species selection, vegetation community dynamics, interactions between vascular plants and bryophytes, and/or plant responses to environmental gradients such as water level and salinity measures of planted species..
Candidate Profile: Highly motivated candidates should have a B.S. in Ecology, Botany, Environmental Sciences, or Wetland/Peatland Biology and be familiar with plant identification, vegetation surveying, wetland ecology, restoration concepts, and/or statistical analysis. How to apply and contact information: Please send your CV and a motivation letter to Dr. David J. Cooper, david.coo...@colostate.edu Website: http://warnercnr.colostate.edu/~davidc/David_Cooper/Home.html
