The School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences at Auburn University is seeking candidates for a graduate assistantship (Ph.D.) in Wildlife Ecology and Management to take the lead on a comprehensive research project examining evolutionary ecology of a large mammal.  The research will be conducted at the Auburn University deer research facility and will examine the evolutionary aspects of reproduction using white-tailed deer as a model.  Working as part of a research team, the selected student will develop a research focus using data (physical characteristics, genetics, blood profiles, parasite loads, hormone levels, etc.) collected over the past 10 years from over 500 individual animals.  During this time period, we have determined parentage assignments for over 400 of these individuals.  These data, as well as an additional 3 years of data collected by the research team while the student is at Auburn, will be available to the student.  The Auburn deer research facility (wp.auburn.edu/deerlab), which is a 430-acre laboratory setting that simulates a free-ranging population of white- tailed deer, has approximately 100 individual adult deer that inhabit the facility at any given time.  The selected candidate will be able to develop a research focus in areas including, but not limited to, relationships among breeding patterns, fitness, the MHC, physical characteristics, parasite loads, and hormone levels.  Responsibilities of the selected candidate will be to spearhead continued data collection in the field (e.g., capture of deer and collection of samples), and to enhance the database that has already been developed for the population.

The position will be available beginning May 2018.  The candidate selected for this position will also serve as the writing TA for the School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences.  As the writing TA, the candidate will assist undergraduate and graduate students with development of their writing skills.  This responsibility is not to be confused with proofreading writing and telling them what needs to be corrected.  Rather, Auburn University has implemented a complex writing assistance center on campus, and this position serves as the liaison for students in the School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences.  The selected candidate will be trained by the AU Writing Center, and will normally work with students 8-13 hours/week by appointment.  To satisfy the assistantship during the summer semester, the candidate will work with Forestry and Wildlife undergraduate students on their writing for approximately 4 weeks during May-June each summer at our remote campus (The Solon Dixon Forestry Education Center).  The assistantship includes a $19,180 salary, a full tuition waiver, and comes with its own office.
Additionally, highly quality candidates may be considered for an AU Presidential Graduate Research Fellowship, which lasts for 3 years and comes with an annual stipend of $30,000.  If the student is awarded this fellowship, they will still be expected to meet their writing TA responsibilities.

Applicants should possess an M.S. degree in Wildlife Ecology or related field, a strong work ethic, and field and/or lab experience.
Applications will be accepted until the position is filled, but the hope is to make a decision by early February.  Interested applicants should send a cover letter outlining their qualifications for the project, copies of transcripts and GRE scores, and contact information for at least 3 references to Dr. Steve Ditchkoff, School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences, 3301 Forestry and Wildlife Building, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849. Phone – (334) 844-9240: E-mail – ditchss@auburn.edu.  Application materials can be sent by e-mail.

Applications are now being accepted for the summer of 2018 Research Experience for Undergraduates in Population Biology of Infectious Diseases, hosted by the University of Georgia. We are excited about the program, which strives to integrate experimental biological science with computational methods and techniques to investigate a variety of areas in infectious disease research. Our goal is to recruit both students with a background in biology, with the intent of introducing them to computational techniques, and also students with a background in mathematics and/or computer science, in order to give them experience in data collection in a laboratory setting.

2018 Program details
Location: University of Georgia, Athens, GA
Dates: May 21-July 20, 2017 (9 weeks)

Students will receive a $4950 stipend for the summer, free housing at the University of Georgia, and travel assistance to Athens, GA.

Who is eligible?
Applicants must be citizens or permanent residents of the U.S. or its territories and have not yet obtained an undergraduate degree.

To Apply:
– Complete the online application at http://reu.ecology.uga.edu/
– Send transcripts (unofficial is ok) to  infectious.disease.reu@gmail.com
– Arrange for two letters of recommendation to be sent to infectious.disease.reu@gmail.com

To be considered, all application materials should be received by February 19, 2018. Accepted students will be notified in early March.

For more information, please see our website at http://reu.ecology.uga.edu/
or contact Dr. John Drake, program director, at jdrake@uga.edu

Have you ever wondered what’s it like to conduct research in the Arctic?
You don’t have to wonder for long. I am offering a full-time temporary position located at Denali National Park, AK, in June, July, and August 2018. During this time, you would be backpacking and living in campgrounds at Denali. A stipend of $2,000 will be provided, but you must cover your own transportation to the field site. As a technician, your duties will include, but are not limited to, the following:
* Conducting population surveys of arctic ground squirrels, including locating and indexing burrow networks and confirming the presence or absence, * Conducting vegetation assessments, and * Maintaining good working relationships with other scientists, park liaison and visitors at Denali to support the goals of the research.

The preferred candidate is dependable, curious, enthusiastic, doesn’t mind working in physically taxing situations for long hours, and loves to be outdoors in rugged conditions. The ideal candidate will also have experience backpacking.

This fieldwork is part of the dissertation research of Nigel Golden (https://goo.gl/LhMedz), University of Massachusetts graduate student studying the impact of climate change on arctic ground squirrel activity. This research is part of a broad research program, led by Dr.
Toni Lyn Morelli of the US Geological Survey’s Northeast Climate Science Center, to understand the impacts of climate change on wildlife.

If you are interested in the position or have questions, email Nigel Golden at ngolden@umass.edu by February 28th, 2018 with a resume/CV with the subject line AGS in Denali 2018. Women and URM are encouraged to apply.

Graduate position: Plant Evolutionary Genomics

The Puzey lab (http://puzeylab.weebly.com) at the College of William
and Mary (Williamsburg, VA) is recruiting a graduate student (M.S
Biology) interested in using genomics to understand the development of
complex spatial patterns in plants. Positions for MS program start Fall
2018. Please contact Josh Puzey (jrpuzey@wm.edu) for more information.

The successful applicant will be passionate about evolution, interested
in plants, and keen to use genomic techniques to address their research
questions. Students working the Puzey lab get exposure to a wide range of
analyses and techniques including next-generation sequencing, population
genomic analyses, and molecular ecology.

Details about the M.S. program in Biology at W&M can be found here
(http://www.wm.edu/as/biology/graduate/). Full-time students are supported
by teaching assistantships and full tuition waivers. Most students
complete their master’s degree in two years and go on to pursue either
a Ph.D. or M.D. degree. Our program also provides the training required
to enter technical positions in industry and government. Recent grads
are pursuing Ph.D.s at Duke, UC Davis, Johns Hopkins, and University of
Toronto; others are following career paths in biotech, pharmaceuticals,
resource management, and environmental consulting.

jrpuzey@gmail.com