The Adams lab in the Department of Biology at Brigham Young University (BYU) welcomes applications from students wishing to pursue a PhD in evolutionary ecology, focusing on soil ecosystems, starting Fall of 2018.
Dissertation projects are dynamic, focusing on core hypotheses associated with the McMurdo Dry Valley LTER (http://mcmlter.org), primarily the characterization of soil ecosystem responses to climate variation. Our hypotheses are informed by approaches including community and autecology, ecological genomics, comparative phylogeography, elemental stoichiometry, molecular evolution, and metagenomics/transcriptomics. Successful candidates will be required to carry out challenging fieldwork in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica.
BYU is located in Provo, Utah, where opportunities for world-class skiing, snowboarding, fly-fishing, kayaking, hiking, rock climbing, mountain biking, and many other outdoor recreational activities are less than 20 minutes from the lab. There are several festivals during the year in different areas of the county and Provo is home to a vibrant music scene. Salt Lake City is only 45 minutes travel by car or commuter rail.
For full consideration, complete applications should be received by January 15, 2018, but late applications can be considered through the first part of February. Financial support is competitive and comes from a variety of sources, including teaching assistantships, research assistantships, fellowships, and external research funding from the National Science Foundation.
BYU is a private institution run by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Students are required to uphold a standard of personal conduct. For more information on this standard, please visit the Honor Code Office website (https://honorcode.byu.edu/).
Interested students should contact Byron Adams (bjadams@byu.edu), including a current CV and why our research group might be a good fit for your career and educational interests/goals. Application information can be found on the BYU Biology website, http://biology.byu.edu/GradAdmissions
Byron Adams
Department of Biology
Brigham Young University
Brigham Young University