Call for PhD students, I am looking for 2 students to begin PhD research with myself, Michael Sheriff, at Penn State University. These positions are fully funded for the first three years, including tuition and summer salaries. The starting date is flexible but preference will be for a starting date this fall (Aug/Sept) or January 2014. The research focus of my lab addresses one of the fundamental questions in biology: what limits and regulates animals in their natural world? Our approach is to bridge physiology, behavior, and ecology to understand how animals interact with the world around them. As such, we are broadly interested in the underlying physiological mechanisms by which ecological interactions (predation, competition, climate, etc ) alter behavior and cause changes in reproduction, survival, and ultimately population demography and community structure. Projects in our research group are centered on two major themes:
1) How ecological stressors drive changes in free-living animals physiology and behavior, how this impacts reproduction and survival and how this drives changes in population dynamics and ultimately community structure. a) Particular focus has been on climate change, predation, food availability and habitat. b) Areas of physiology focus mostly on stress hormones (glucocorticoids) and sex hormones (testosterone, DHEA) and metabolic rate; behaviors focus mainly on phenology (timing of annually recurring events) and anti-predator and foraging behaviors. 2) How maternal stress may impact offspring physiology, behavior and fitness. If you are interested in joining our research group please contact me via email at mjsher...@alaska.edu I place a premium on analytical skills, writing ability, research experience, hard work, and enthusiasm. If and when you decide to contact me, please take some time and write a thoughtful letter (because this is more likely to generate a thoughtful response). Please send me your CV, GRE test scores (Canadian students dont need to send this), and transcripts. Tell me a bit about your interests, and why youre interested in working with our group.