Sagebrush Team
PhD Assistantship Announcements
Interdisciplinary PhD Research Assistantships in Social
Resilience of the Southern Idaho Sagebrush Steppe Ecosystem
and
Ecological
Up to five Ph.D. research assistantships are available to join a collaborative,
interdisciplinary team focusing on the social and ecological resilience of the sagebrush
steppe ecosystem of the Columbia Plateau and northern Great Basin in southern Idaho.
This region is a mosaic of public lands, private ranches, agricultural parcels, and areas
experiencing rapid urban and recreational development. The social and ecological
components, structures and processes within this ecosystem are rapidly changing as a
result of population growth, economic opportunities, policy changes, land conversion,
climate change, invasive species and shifts in disturbance regimes. To capture the
range of variation in the system and determine thresholds for resilience, the student and
faculty team will evaluate the characteristics and impacts of these drivers in study areas
across a climate gradient that include minimally altered to highly impacted rangelands.
With funding from the National Science Foundation’s Integrative Graduate Education
and Research Traineeship program (IGERT), the students will pursue interlinked
dissertation projects important for the overall theme, and work together to identify and
address interdisciplinary issues critical for development of effective planning and policy
for future resilience of this threatened system. The team will interact with members of
five other IGERT-sponsored student/faculty teams pursuing similar objectives in other
ecosystems in the Pacific Northwest and Costa Rica. This opportunity is especially
appropriate for students seeking to develop skills for interdisciplinary collaboration and
team-based research that addresses complex problems involving interacting human
and natural systems.
PhD Assistantship in Plant Ecology
We seek a highly motivated PhD student to participate in a project focusing on plant
community responses to environmental changes in sagebrush ecosystems, which
include fire, climate, invasive species, and land conversion. The student will identify
plant community factors and/or processes affecting ecosystem resiliency in response to
changing disturbance regimes. Topics may include plant community composition,
habitat types, and species interactions that identify a gradient of resiliency. Species
interactions beyond plant-plant interactions may further affect resiliency and include
plant-insect, animal and microbial interactions. Many opportunities exist to integrate
these research topics with other sagebrush steppe team members focused on
biogeochemical cycling, ecohydrology, wildlife ecology, and rural social systems across
a wide range of spatial and temporal scales. Contact Beth Newingham
Lee
Vierling
(leev@uidaho.edu)
and
Dave
Tank
(beth@uidaho.edu),
(dtank@uidaho.edu) for more information.
PhD Assistantship in Ecohydrology
We seek a highly motivated PhD student to participate in a project focusing on the
interactions between ecological and hydrological patterns and processes in sagebrush
ecosystems undergoing changing disturbance regimes and anthropogenic influences,
including climate change, invasive species, and land conversion. Resiliency to these
drivers of change can be assessed by examining changes in water status and flux in the
soil and plant environment, which may be mediated by soil-plant-microbial interactions.
The sagebrush steppe team seeks a student interested in topics such as 1) effects of
changing climate regimes (snow to rain-dominated) and/or 2) the effects of plant
community structure changes on water dynamics and feedbacks on vegetation. These
spatiotemporal dynamics include changes in snow redistribution, interception,
evaporation, transpiration, sublimation, and soil water content and fluxes. Many
opportunities exist to integrate these research topics with other sagebrush steppe team
members focused on biogeochemical cycling, plant ecology, wildlife ecology, and rural
social systems across a wide range of spatial and temporal scales. Contact Beth
Newingham (beth@uidaho.edu), Tim Link (tlink@uidaho.edu), and Lee Vierling
(leev@uidaho.edu) for more information.
PhD Assistantship in Biogeochemical Cycling
We seek a highly motivated PhD student to participate in a project focusing on
biogeochemical responses to changes in the structure and function of sagebrush
ecosystems, resulting from urban sprawl, climate change, invasive species and shifts in
disturbance regimes. Quantifying changes in biogeochemical cycling is fundamental to
understanding the resilience of sagebrush ecosystems as they respond to these drivers
of change across spatial and temporal scales. We seek a student with keen interest in
studying biogeochemical pools and fluxes of C, N and/or other nutrients in the context of
developing indices for quantifying ecosystem resilience under a rapidly changing
environment. Projects are encouraged that incorporate soil, plant, atmospheric, and/or
microbial interactions. Many opportunities exist to integrate these research topics with
other team members focused on ecohydrology, plant ecology, wildlife ecology, and rural
social systems across a wide range of spatial and temporal scales. Contact Jodi
Johnson-Maynard (jmaynard@uidaho.edu), Lee Vierling (leev@uidaho.edu) and Beth
Newingham (beth@uidaho.edu) for more information.
PhD Assistantship in Animal Ecology
We seek a highly motivated and qualified PhD student to evaluate the resiliency of
animal populations and communities occupying sagebrush steppe systems. This
research project will focus upon species-specific and community-level assessments of
animals across major environmental gradients within sagebrush steppe. The focus of
the project will include: 1) examining how different focal taxa (e.g. reptiles, amphibians,
mammals, and/or birds) respond to key environmental and landuse gradients in
sagebrush steppe, 2) determining the relationship between environmental gradients and
community group composition/function, and 3) modeling how climatic and/or landuse
changes will affect the resilience of these species and communities. Many opportunities
exist to integrate these research topics with other team members focused on
ecohydrology, plant ecology, biogeochemical cycling, and rural social systems across a
wide range of spatial and temporal scales. Contact Janet Rachlow
(jrachlow@uidaho.edu), Kerri Vierling (kerriv@uidaho.edu)
(lwaits@uidaho.edu) for more information.
and
Lisette
Waits
PhD assistantship in Rural Social Systems
We seek a highly motivated and qualified PhD student to pursue analyses of differences
in human communities with respect to their impact on and openness to protection and
restoration of sagebrush habitat. Applicants with a strong background in sociology are
preferred, but students with significant and relevant backgrounds in social sciences will
be considered as well. The research project will focus on social factors affecting
ecological degradation including: 1) introduction of invasive species, 2) exurban and
other development patterns, 3) grazing and off-road recreation, 4) fire suppression and
5) carbon-based climate change. Characteristics of interest include the degree to which
institutions (e.g., education, tourist economy, state and regional governments) and
nonprofit organizations support or resist restoration and contribute to or work against
degradation, the presence or absence of social or creative capital, the impact of social
class and varying levels of access to political and economic power (local, state and
national), and the impact of tax policies and decision-making for diminishing oversight
and regulation of public lands. Many opportunities exist to integrate these research
topics with other team members focused on ecohydrology, plant ecology,
biogeochemical cycling, and wildlife ecology. Contact Patrick Gillham
(gillham@uidaho.edu), Leontina Hormel (lhormel@uidaho.edu), and J.D. Wulfhorst
(jd@uidaho.edu) for more information.
This unique graduate education program will provide students:
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Team-based interdisciplinary education
International perspective
Broad geographic and ecological exposure
Participation in integrated interdisciplinary teams
Cross-cultural experience
Mentoring by faculty from multiple disciplines and institutions
Requirements: Applicants must be American citizens or permanent residents of
the USA. Successful applicants must have obtained a research-based M.S. degree in a
discipline of relevance to the project or equivalent experience during or after a B.S.
degree, and demonstrate interest and/or experience in team-based projects. Students
will join the program to begin course work at the end of July 2011.
Review of applications will begin November 1st 2010. Earlier applications are
highly encouraged. Interviews of top applicants will be conducted at the University of
Idaho campus in early February 2011.
For project and application information visit our web site:
http://www.cals.uidaho.edu/igert2/
For information on the University of Idaho College of Graduate Studies see:
http://www.uidaho.edu/cogs/