Harvard Forest – Harvard University Two Postdoctoral research positions Theoretical Ecology / Conservation Biology Two-year positions, based in Petersham, MA
Position 1: Animal movement in heterogeneous environments: Understanding animal movement in relation to environmental features is central to predicting consequences of habitat loss and alteration on wildlife populations. Nonetheless, understanding how animals move in heterogeneous environments is one of the most challenging problems in ecology. Responsibilities: The successful candidate for this position will help develop a new model system for investigating how animals move through mixed use (natural- and human-dominated) landscapes. The focal system for this study will be selected in collaboration with the successful candidate but must be: (1) well-suited to analysis with mechanistic movement models (random walk and diffusion models, extended to include responses to landscape features); (2) relevant to conservation of the New England landscape; (3) complementary to past and ongoing research in the Crone lab, which has focused mostly on ecology of wildflowers, butterflies, and bees, but includes research on spatial population dynamics of diverse taxa (trees, amphibians, songbirds, small mammals). Required Experience and Skills: The successful candidate for this position will be a biologist or ecologist with basic quantitative skills (familiarity with principles of algebra, calculus and probability) and strong interest in developing expertise at the interface of empirical and mathematical ecology. I am open to applications from candidates trained in the mathematical sciences with strong interest in ecology and some experience in field biology. Position 2: “Colored” stochasticity and plant population dynamics: Environmental stochasticity plays a central role in population and evolutionary dynamics, but stochastic processes are difficult to quantify from typical short (3-10 year) demographic studies. Variation in vital rates is usually modeled as “white noise”, meaning that rates in one year are not correlated with rates in the recent past or recent future. However, there are good reasons to believe that variation may be “red”, meaning good years tend to follow good years (due to trends in environmental conditions or carry-over through physiological condition), and there is evidence that some species experience “blue” noise, meaning bad years tend to follow good years (for example, if reproduction depletes stored resources). Responsibilities: The successful candidate for this position will explore statistical approaches for estimating correlations and serial correlations among vital rates from demographic studies for perennial plants, explore consequences of empirical patterns for population dynamics, and assist with field research. Required Experience and Skills: (1) knowledge of statistical computing (e.g., graduate degree in statistics or applied mathematics), including familiarity with generalized linear mixed models and hierarchical Bayesian models; (2) interest in ecology, botany and conservation biology; (3) ability to participate in demographic studies in Montana and Finland (6-10 weeks travel/year). Coding for this position will be in R, but I am open to candidates with strong computational skills whose primary experience to date is in other languages/platforms. Both positions are open until filled. The successful candidates could begin as soon as September 2010, and preference will be given to candidates who can participate in field work during spring/summer 2011. Both positions are funded for two years, and based at Harvard Forest (http://harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu/). To apply, send CV (pdf format) and names of 3 references to Elizabeth Crone: Through December 2010: Associate Professor, Wildlife Biology Program University of Montana Missoula MT 59812 US elizabeth.cr...@cfc.umt.edu Effective January 2011: Senior Ecologist, Harvard Forest Harvard University Petersham MA 01366 USA Applicants who will be attending the 2010 ESA meetings in Pittsburgh can arrange to discuss the position during the meeting. Harvard University is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer. Applicants from groups traditionally underrepresented in science including minority and women candidates are encouraged to apply. More information about post doctoral benefits are available at: http://www.postdoc.harvard.edu/index.html
