Graduate Research Assistant in Forest Ecology The Department of Natural Resource Ecology and Management (NREM) at Oklahoma State University is seeking applications for an MS graduate research assistantship in forest ecology to study the relationships among fire frequency, habitat quality, and wildlife values in Cross Timbers forests including vegetation composition and structure, forage production and amount and quality of litter and coarse woody debris.
The Cross Timbers vegetation type is a mosaic of oak forest, oak savannah and tall grass prairie covering almost 5 million hectares from southeastern Kansas across Oklahoma to north-central Texas. It retains some of the best preserved old-growth oak forests in the south-central US because the forest has little commercial timber value. These forests are highly threatened today by overgrazing, invasive species, exclusion of fire and clearing for agriculture and urbanization. Evidence suggests the quality of savannahs and forests for wildlife habitat is changing due to increasing density of woody vegetation. This research position is part of the project "Fire Frequency Effects on Habitat Quality of Three Wildlife Management Areas Dominated by Cross Timbers Forests" supported by the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation. Dr. David M. Leslie, Jr., Leader of the Oklahoma Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit is co-director of the project. In addition to the cooperation of several departments at OSU, the research includes collaboration with the staff of several wildlife management areas in the state. Position: The student will enroll in an MS program at OSU starting Winter 2010. The stipend will be $15,500/year and will be renewed after each year based on satisfactory progress. Benefits include tuition waiver and health insurance. Application: A complete application includes the following: personal statement, three letters of reference, curriculum vitae, official transcripts of all college level study, GRE scores and a completed OSU Graduate College application. Please contact Steve Hallgren with questions. Steve Hallgren 022 Ag Hall Natural Resource Ecology and Management Oklahoma State University Stillwater, OK 74078 office: 405-744-6805 steve.hallg...@okstate.edu
