*M.S. Graduate Research Assistantship: **Improving Pollinator Conservation and Water Quality on a Landscape Scale through Interagency Collaboration*
Pollinating insects have become a national priority and have created an opportunity for multiple agencies to come together for pollinator inventories and habitat documentation and usage. The US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), the US Forest Service (USFS), and Southern Illinois University at Carbondale (SIUC) have partnered to develop strategies to improve pollinator conservation and water quality on a landscape scale. For this interdisciplinary project many facets of pollinators, habitats, and impacts on the environment will be investigated. SIUC invites applications for a graduate research assistantship (GRA) to conduct research focusing on the soil and water quality aspect of various pollinator habitat-types. Pollinator habitat (or cover crops) will be planted in row-crop agriculture fields on a one-year rotation. The crops will be assessed based on nitrogen and phosphorus leaching as well as nutrient savings through N-fixation. Primary duties will include field equipment installation, soil and water sample collection and analyses, and data processing and analyses. The student will be required to work both collaboratively and individually, work in various weather conditions, and possess a valid US driver’s license. Further, the successful applicant is expected to publish at least one journal article from their thesis. The GRA position is open for the fall semester of 2016 and will remain open until filled. If interested in applying please email resumes to Dr. Jon Schoonover ( jsch...@siu.edu). A completed application to the Department of Forestry will be required before full consideration.
