Masters Game Bird Ecology: New Mexico State University

School: New Mexico Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, NM State University

Location: NM Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, NM State University, Las Cruces, NM

Job Category: Graduate Assistantships

Website: http://web.nmsu.edu/~carleton/index.html

Salary: 23,000

Start Date: 01/14/2017

Last Date to Apply: 11/15/2016

 

Description:

   One Masters Graduate Assistantship will be available starting January, 2017 to work on the response of sympatric scaled and bobwhite quail population demography and space use to prescribed fire and mesquite removal in eastern New Mexico. The successful applicant will be supported for three years on a graduate assistantship, but will be required to assist as a graduate teaching assistant for two different semesters.

 

Qualifications:

Minimum Qualifications: 

     Applicants must have an undergraduate degree in Wildlife, Biology, Conservation Biology or related field by December 2016 with a graduate GPA of 3.0 or higher. Direct experience with field studies that involved trapping, tracking, and handling of birds is highly desirable.

Desired Qualifications: 

     The most qualified applicants will have wildlife related field experience, including but not limited to, telemetry, working independently at remote field sites, supervising technicians, and demonstrated skills in data organization. Duties will include managing technicians, trapping, banding, attaching VHF transmitters, tracking birds, vegetation sampling, assisting with the preparation of reports and publications, and presentations for scientific audiences. The successful applicant must be willing to work, sometimes long hours, under variable climatic conditions and be comfortable living at remote locations for up to 6 months.

How to Apply: 

     Interested applicants should send a cover letter, CV/Resume, unofficial undergraduate transcripts, and GRE scores (preferably as one pdf document) to Dr. Scott Carleton in the New Mexico Cooperative Fish & Wildlife Research Unit at New Mexico State University (carleton@nmsu.edu or as a last resort to NMSU, MSC 4901, Las Cruces, NM 88003). If you are selected as a finalist for the position, you will be asked to provide three letters of reference. For more information please contact: Scott Carleton (carleton@nmsu.edu)

PhD position – Coupled dynamics of natural and human systems: Water quality, microbial dynamics, and human and wildlife health: Virginia Tech.

School: Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation, Virginia Tech

Location: Blacksburg, Virginia

Job Category: Graduate Assistantships

Salary: Competitive stipend, tuition waiver

Last Date to Apply: 12/01/2016

 

Description:

    We are seeking an outstanding researcher to join our interdisciplinary team and contribute to the characterization of ecological processes associated with fecal microbial dynamics, water quality, and human waterborne disease risk in a dry-land river floodplain system in Northern Botswana located in southern Africa. The project is funded under the National Science Foundation Dynamics of Coupled Natural and Human Systems. Temporal and spatial dynamics of water quality and the associated bacterial community will be characterized through community sequencing. A microbial source-tracking approach targeting the fecal indicator bacteria E. coli and human-associated Bacteroides and other human commensal bacteria will be used to identify potential transmission linkages between the different sub-environments, vegetation, sediment, soils, water, humans, and animals (domestic animals and diverse wildlife communities). We will also assess microbial dynamics through bacterial fate studies in these subenvironments and quantify the abundance of the human-specific bacteria in river and floodplain environments to identify where and when inputs of human fecal waste occur.
   The candidate will be co-supervised by the Project PI K. A. Alexander and co-PI Dr. M. Ponder. The candidate will work with other program collaborators and co-PIs representing, all together, a diverse portfolio of disciplines including disease ecology, epidemiology, microbial ecology, public health, veterinary medicine, hydrology, environmental engineering, mathematical modeling, dry land river ecology, and anthropology.

 

Qualifications:
    The individual must possess a Masters degree in Microbiology, Biology or related discipline. Successful candidates will be independent and highly productive showing demonstrated experience in molecular biology. Applicant must demonstrate ability to publish research outputs in peer-reviewed journals with quantitative PCR, and/or microbiome analysis/metagenomics. Bioinformatics experience is also preferred. Familiarity with water quality and bacterial source tracking would be ideal but not required. Candidate must be able to work independently, as well as collaboratively. An interest in exploring disease dynamics across scales, species, and disciplines will be an advantage.

Application Process:
     To apply for this position please send:

1) A letter of interest

2) A current curriculum vitae

3) Contact information for three references

4) Scientific publications produced by the candidate as a lead author

5) Copies of transcripts and GRE scores as a single *.pdf document to Dr. Kathleen Alexander (kathyalx@vt.edu) and Claire Sanderson (clairees@vt.edu). Non-native English speakers must also be fluent in English, as demonstrated by a recent IELTS of TOEFL test. 

     Review of applications will begin immediately and continue until the position is filled, with an anticipated start date spring of 2017. Competitive candidates may be invited to Virginia Tech for an interview.

For more information on our program please visit the following sites:
www.caracal.info
www.facebook/caracalbotswana.com
www.healthbotswana.blogspot.com
http://fishwild.vt.edu/faculty/alexander.htm 

Masters graduate position – Dispersal and disease transmission dynamics in Banded mongooses in Botswana: Virginia Tech.

School: Virginia Tech and CARACAL

Location: Blacksburg, Virginia

Job Category: Graduate Assistantships

Salary: Competitive stipend, tuition waiver

Last Date to Apply: 12/01/2016

 

Description:

     The Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation at Virginia Tech, in collaboration with the Centre of African Resources; Animals, Communities and Land use (CARACAL) in Botswana would like to recruit a Master’s student to participate in a multidisciplinary project directed at enhancing our understanding of disease transmission in social wildlife species. This project is funded under the National Science Foundations Ecology of Emerging Infectious Disease under the direction of PI, Dr. Kathleen Alexander. Banded mongoose (Mungos mungo) in Botswana are infected with a novel, emerging tuberculosis (TB) pathogen, Mycobacterium mungi that is transmitted in anal gland secretions. This long-term study system will be used to investigate the manner in which infectious disease and Allee Effects interact to influencing disease dynamics and group persistence in group-living species. The successful Master’s candidate will use microsatellite genotyping together with detailed observational data to determine inbreeding, relatedness within and between banded mongoose troops, and estimate troop dispersal and fusion/fission events across a diverse landscape. These outputs will be incorporated into infectious disease transmission models. For more information on our program please visit the following sites:
www.caracal.info
www.facebook/caracalbotswana.com
www.healthbotswana.blogspot.com
http://fishwild.vt.edu/faculty/alexander.htm

 

Qualifications:

Required Qualifications:

     Candidates must have a BS in molecular ecology, biology or a related field. Candidates must have a highly competitive GPA and GRE score. Knowledge of molecular genetics, mammalian biology, and statistics are critical. Strong candidates will also demonstrate excellent writing skills, a strong work ethic, as well as the ability to work with others and independently.

Desired Qualifications: 

    Competitive candidates will have prior experience with ARLEQUIN, FSTAT, STRUCTURE, and BOTTLENECK (or similar programs), and experience analyzing data in the R computing environment.
    To apply for this position please send:

1) A letter of interest.

2) A current curriculum vitae.

3) Contact information for three references

4) An example of written material produced by the candidate 

5) Copies of transcripts and GRE scores as a single *.pdf document to Kathleen Alexander (kathyalx@vt.edu) and Claire Sanderson (clairees@vt.edu). 

    Review of applications will begin immediately and continue until the position is filled, with an anticipated start date spring of 2017.