PhD Assistantship in Wildlife Biology: University of Montana

Agency: University of Montana

Location: University of Montana

Job Category: Graduate Assistantships

Website: http://www.cfc.umt.edu/research/heblab/

Salary: 20,000

Start Date: 05/01/2017

Last Date to Apply: 01/15/2017

 

Description:

   PhD Assistantship in Wildlife Biology at the University of Montana, I have an opening for Fall 2017 for one graduate student project (PhD, but may consider MS) focused on understanding the spatial and population ecology of the Fortymile caribou herd, one of Alaska’s most important caribou herds. The successful PhD student will work with an interagency group including the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADFG), the National Park Service (NPS) and the Yukon Territorial Government to develop their research and field activities, and deliver applied ecological science to improve cooperative management of this herd. The Fortymile caribou herd is one of the most intensively studied populations in Alaska, and also experiences intensive habitat and predator management. The focus of the project is to understand the fundamental roles of top-down and bottom-up factors in driving spatial and population ecology. Opportunities for fieldwork to support the research could be developed by the PhD student and collaborating agencies and include developing nutritional forage models and assisting collaborating agencies with population-level fieldwork. For more information about the Fortymile herd see here. Funding is provided by the Alaska BLM office and collaborating agencies. This project will also collaborate and work synergistically with a broader, Arctic-Boreal Vulnerability Experiment (ABoVE) project in which Hebblewhite is a co-PI . For more information about the NASA project see the project description.

 

Qualifications:

   M.Sc./M.A. in wildlife biology , ecology, conservation biology, or related field preferred; outstanding work ethic; exceptional quantitative skills and motivation; field experience in ungulate or predator ecology preferred; field experience in remote wilderness settings in the subarctic or arctic preferred; experience with analyses of GPS movement data from animals; demonstrated excellence in oral and written communication and interpersonal skills; demonstrated experience working with wildlife management agencies. Experience with statistical modeling, programming, R, GIS analyses, remote sensing, scientific writing, and spatial modeling an asset. For more information please contact: Mark Hebblewhite (mark.hebblewhite@umontana.edu).