Ph.D. Opportunity in Conservation Science at Virginia Institute of Marine Science, College of William & Mary

School: Virginia Institute of Marine Science, College of William & Mary

Location: Gloucester Point, Virginia

Job Category: Graduate Assistantships

Website: http://www.vims.edu/gateways/prospectivestudents/index.php

Salary: $25,000

Start Date: 08/22/2017

Last Date to Apply: 01/05/2017

 

Description:

      The Center for Coastal Resources Management at Virginia Institute of Marine Science, College of William & Mary has an opening for a Ph.D student in the area of Community Ecology to start fall 2017. The student will be supported as a graduate research assistant as part of an NSF-funded project on coastal resiliency in Chesapeake Bay. This research will examine the interactions of climate change, management decisions and marsh ecological functions to simulate and select climate change adaptation strategies that will support a sustainable system. The student will participate in data collection and synthesis efforts in Virginia to comparatively quantify multiple ecosystem functions of living shorelines and natural marshes along a continuum of shorescape settings. The student’s research will likely focus on the quantification of marsh ecosystem services, such as habitat provision (invertebrate, fish, bird, turtle abundance, biomass, diversity), primary production, nutrient and carbon storage for both natural marshes and the ‘preferred’ shoreline protection strategy, living shorelines, within shorescapes representing the continuum of marsh connectivity conditions. The graduate student can and will develop a project and associated research questions tailored to their interests and intended career path.
      This position will be based in the Department of Biological Sciences at VIMS, but there are opportunities for co-advising with the Environmental Science and Policy Program, College of William & Mary. The positions will be supported with a stipend (approximately $25,000/year), and paid tuition/benefits.  More information about the CCRM lab is available at: http://ccrm.vims.edu/, more information about the ESPP labs is available at http://rmcham.people.wm.edu/ and http://wmpeople.wm.edu/mle.
      Potential PhD students should send their CV, transcripts (unofficial are perfectly fine), GRE scores, and a brief statement of research interests related to this project to Dr. Donna Bilkovic at donnab@vims.edu. Formal applications to the Virginia Institute of Marine Science should be complete by January 5, 2017. More information on the Graduate Program can be found here: http://www.vims.edu/education/graduate/index.php and http://www.vims.edu/gateways/prospectivestudents/index.php. 

Qualifications:

     Applicants should be self-motivated and also capable of working as part of a team. The ideal applicant will have experience and interest in conservation science, ecosystem services, community ecology, as well an interest in spatial modeling. Additional skills for the PhD position include statistical analysis, technical writing, and GIS.