PhD Assistantship on large mammal community ecology

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We are searching for a PhD student to lead a new experimental study investigating how coyotes and wild pigs influence the behavior of deer and other mammals in the southeastern United States. Coyotes have relatively recently colonized the southeast, taking on the role of the largest carnivore across much of the region and exerting top-down effects on the native large herbivore (white-tailed deer) and other trophic levels. At the same time, wild pigs have spread across much of the southeast, and our recent research suggests they are impacting predator-prey dynamics in this system. However, disentangling the relative effects of coyotes and wild pigs individually on ecosystem processes has heretofore been limited due to the fact that both species occur ubiquitously across any area where they co-occur, i.e., studying the effects of one species in isolation from the other has been impossible. Therefore, with state and federal partners, we will be using large (100 acre) exclosures that will selectively exclude each of these target species.
The student is expected to take part in this exciting new project (exclosures were just constructed) by developing research questions related specifically to deer and other mammalian responses to our experimental design. Within the study area we are placing GPS tracking collars on coyotes, deer and wild pigs, allowing the student to investigate questions regarding how removal of predation risk and/or risk of interacting with the dominant competitor (i.e., wild pigs) impact deer movement behavior, stress physiology, maternal care and fawn survival. We also have an extensive camera trap array and drift fences in place, making the system well suited to assess community-level responses by carnivores and other trophic levels.
Applicants are required to have an MS in wildlife ecology or a related field, previous experience in studying the ecology of wildlife in a field setting, be a US citizen and have a valid US driver’s license. Top applicants will have a strong interest in the ecology of large mammals and their impact on other trophic levels, as well as evidence of strong scientific writing and basic statistics.  Applicants should submit a cover letter, CV, contact information for 3 references, unofficial transcripts, and a scientific writing sample as a single PDF titled “LastName_PhDapplication” to djachow@clemson.edu prior to September 22, 2025.  The selected student would start at Clemson in January 2026.