Dear friends and colleagues,
I am recruiting for a postdoctoral position in my lab. The announcement
is attached, and pasted as text below. I would be most grateful if you
could pass this announcement on to any interested parties and/or
advertise the position in any appropriate venues.
Many thanks for your help, apologies for cross postings, and I hope you
are well.
Dan Reuman
Associate Professor, Associate Scientist
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and Kansas Biological Survey
University of Kansas
*Postdoctoral researcher position available in population modelling. *
**
Dr Daniel Reuman is recruiting into his lab in the University of Kansas
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (EEB). At least 3 years
of funding are available to carry out modelling pertaining to spatial
population dynamics and analysis of large spatial population datasets.
The postdoc will join an interdisciplinary team consisting of Reuman,
three postdocs and one student currently in the Reuman lab,
collaborators in EEB and in the Math Department at KU, and collaborators
at several institutions in the USA and UK. Funding is from the NSF
Mathematical Biology program and the James S McDonnell Foundation.
In many hierarchical dynamical systems, “synchrony”//between multiple
fluctuating variables, i.e. correlations or other similarities in
fluctuations between variables through time, is more important than the
individual variables themselves. For instance, a neuron may fire only
when its input neurons fire synchronously. Or the electrical grid may
crash only when demands of multiple users become synchronized, producing
total-usage spikes. Ecosystems can show this type of dependency on
synchrony. Ecosystems include multiple trophic levels, with population
signals from lower levels often being spatially aggregated to affect
higher levels. For instance, a predator is only harmed if its prey are
scarce over its whole hunting area. For systems of this type, it is
primarily the synchronous components of signals that matter in the
average signal that affects the next level – non-synchronous components
tend to cancel in the spatial average. Thus synchrony is very important
to ecosystems. Synchrony is found in organisms as diverse as mammals and
protists, at distances up to thousands of kilometers. Synchrony relates
to large-scale outbreaks and shortages and is important in conservation.
In spite of the importance of synchrony in ecology, possible impacts of
climate change on synchrony are little studied. Synchrony can also be
transmitted through trophic interactions - e.g., a synchronized predator
can induce synchrony in its prey. But the extent to which
climate-induced changes in synchrony may cascade through species
interaction networks via this mechanism, or influence spatial or other
branches of ecology, is unknown. The postdoc will perform statistical
and/or mathematical population modelling to address these questions, and
will investigate connections to extinction risk models and to Taylor’s
law, a commonly applied empirical regularity in spatial ecology. The
postdoc will be encouraged to develop his/her own projects within the
goals of the funding grants.
We seek individuals from biological or physical-science backgrounds with
skills and demonstrable interests in modelling and related areas.
Experience with stochastic process modelling and Fourier or wavelet
approaches is a plus. Experience with population models is a plus, as
are computational skills, particularly if applied in a statistical or
modelling context. A PhD or ABD in a related field is required.
Applicants from underrepresented groups are encouraged.
The University of Kansas (KU) is a major research university with
special strength in ecology and evolutionary biology. The EEB department
has >40 permanent faculty working in a wide variety of theoretical and
empirical areas, with National Research Council and Chronicle of Higher
Education rankings in the top 10 in the USA. KU is located in Lawrence,
Kansas, about 30 miles from Kansas City. Lawrence is a progressive and
cosmopolitan university town with vibrant art, music, and sports scenes
that has been ranked among the top ten college towns in the country for
liveability.
See http://www.reumanlab.res.ku.edu/for further information about the
Reuman lab and links to past publications. Email reu...@ku.edu
<mailto:reu...@ku.edu>or call 785 864 1542 with questions. A start date
during or before autumn 2017 is preferred. To apply, please send a CV, a
cover letter of up to two pages, the names and contact information of
two references, and one publication to reu...@ku.edu
<mailto:reu...@ku.edu>. Review of applications has begun. Position open
until filled.