Ten IGERT PhD Fellowships for work in Costa Rica and Idaho

The first for Interdisciplinary PhD Research Assistantships in
Ecology, Conservation Biology, Sustainable Rural Livelihoods and
Resilience of the San Juan – La Selva Biological Corridor, a crucially
important Mesoamerican landscape.

And the second for Interdisciplinary PhD Research Assistantships in
Forest Landscape Dynamics and Ecosystem Resilience.

Please note that IGERT fellowships are only available to US Citizens
and Permanent Residents per NSF rules.


University of Idaho – Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher
Education Center (CATIE)

San Juan – La Selva Biological Corridor, Costa Rica Team

PhD Assistantship Announcements


Interdisciplinary PhD Research Assistantships in Ecology, Conservation
Biology, Sustainable Rural Livelihoods and Resilience of the San Juan
– La Selva Biological Corridor, a crucially important Mesoamerican
landscape.

Four Ph.D. research assistantships will be available to join a
collaborative team working on aspects of conservation and sustainable
rural livelihoods in the San Juan – La Selva Biological Corridor, a
crucially important human-dominated landscape managed to provide
ecological connectivity between the protected areas of southeastern
Nicaragua and those of Costa Rica´s Central Volcanic Cordillera.

The linked dissertation projects will work in the context of an
outstanding biological corridor management initiative that seeks to
attain conservation goals while meeting the challenges posed by a
dynamic agro-export sector and a growing low-income rural population.
With funding from the National Science Foundation’s Integrative
Graduate Education and Research Traineeship program (IGERT), the
individual fellows will pursue disciplinary research important for the
overall theme, and work together to identify and address
interdisciplinary issues critical for development of effective
corridor policy, management planning and implementation. The team
will interact with members of five other IGERT-sponsored student/
faculty teams pursuing similar objectives in other ecosystems in which
sustainability and conservation in the face of changing conditions and
pressures is desired.

PhD Assistantship in sustainable rural livelihoods of small farmers
and agricultural workers in a major Mesoamerican biological corridor.
Seeking a highly motivated and qualified student to research rural
livelihood dynamics of smallholders and landless people in the
corridor, and to determine the extent to which these are shaped by
market forces and the overall political-legal and institutional
framework. A mix of quantitative and qualitative methods will be used
to determine livelihood security and potential trade-offs between
conservation and development goals, and to identify viable options for
minimizing the trade-offs. In addition, the student will conduct
collaborative research to examine interdisciplinary aspects of
conservation in the dynamic human dominated landscape that constitutes
the corridor with team members in fields such as bat conservation
biology, reproductive ecology of tree species, and forest ecology.
Contact Dietmar Stoian (stoian@catie.ac.cr ) and Leontina Hormel (lhormel@uidaho.edu
).

PhD Assistantship in ecology and conservation genetics of pollination
and seed dispersal mutualisms involving bats and trees. Seeking a
highly motivated and qualified student to research conservation
ecological questions of fundamental importance to the functioning of
this major Mesoamerican biological corridor, using nectarivorous and
frugivorous bats and their mutualistic tree species as a model
system. Habitat and resource use by bat species in logged and
fragmented lowland rain forest and adjacent agricultural habitats will
be characterized and bat movement patterns determined in relation to
different types of human impact. Modeling techniques will be used to
explore the implications of the results for corridor management for
functional connectivity for flying vertebrates. In addition, the
student will conduct collaborative research to examine
interdisciplinary aspects of conservation in the dynamic human
dominated landscape that constitutes the corridor with team members in
fields such as reproductive ecology of tree species, forest ecology
and sustainable rural livelihoods. Contact Lisette Waits (lwaits@uidaho.edu
) and Fabrice DeClerck (fdeclerck@catie.ac.cr ).


PhD Assistantship in reproductive ecology of bat-pollinated and bat-
dispersed tree species. Seeking a highly motivated and qualified
student to research conservation ecological questions of fundamental
importance to the functioning of this major Mesoamerican biological
corridor, focusing on the reproductive ecology (from pollination to
seedling establishment) of bat-pollinated and bat-dispersed tree
species in logged and fragmented lowland rain forest and adjacent
agricultural habitats. Modeling techniques will be used to explore
the implications of the results for corridor management for functional
connectivity for bat-dependent tree species. In addition, the student
will conduct collaborative research to examine interdisciplinary
aspects of conservation in the dynamic human dominated landscape that
constitutes the corridor with team members in fields such as bat
conservation biology, forest ecology and sustainable rural
livelihoods. Contact Bryan Finegan (bfinegan@catie.ac.cr ) and
Lisette Waits (lwaits@uidaho.edu )


PhD Assistantship in ecology of community reassembly of logged and
fragmented lowland rainforest in a major Mesoamerican biological
corridor. Biological corridors in Mesoamerica often bring together
woody plant communities of different biogeographical origins and
disturbance histories in a single conservation area, with the
intention of achieving a single overarching conservation goal. These
communities are additionally subject to human disturbances through
selective logging and fragmentation effects. Using a combination of
vegetation sampling over environmental and disturbance gradients, and
long-term permanent sample plot data, the student will interpret and
predict patterns of community reassembly under this no-analogue
scenario, and identify implications for the conservation and
sustainable use of this forest biodiversity. In addition, the student
will conduct collaborative research to examine interdisciplinary
aspects of conservation in the dynamic human dominated landscape that
constitutes the corridor with team members in fields such as bat
conservation biology, tree species reproductive ecology and
sustainable rural livelihoods. Contact Bryan Finegan (bfinegan@catie.ac.cr
) and Stephen Mulkey (smulkey@uidaho.edu ).

This unique graduate education program will provide students:

· Team-based interdisciplinary education
· International perspective
· Broad geographic and ecological exposure

· Participation in integrated interdisciplinary teams

· Cross-cultural experience

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, and demonstrate interest and/or experience in team-based
projects. Students will join the program to begin course work at the
end of July 2010.

Application deadline: December 1st, 2009 (earlier applications are
encouraged). Interviews of top applicants will be conducted at the
University of Idaho campus in Spring 2010.

For application information visit the web site: http://www.students.uidaho.edu/gradadmissions/IGERT

For information on our previous IGERT project visit the web page: http://www.cals.uidaho.edu/igert/

For information on the University of Idaho College of Graduate Studies
see: http://www.uidaho.edu/cogs/

For information on the Joint Doctoral Program between UI and CATIE go
to: http://www.uiweb.uidaho.edu/catie/

For information about CATIE visit: http://www.catie.ac.cr/


University of Idaho

Northern Rockies Team



PhD Assistantship Announcements





Interdisciplinary PhD Research Assistantships in Forest Landscape
Dynamics and Ecosystem Resilience. Up to five Ph.D. research
assistantships will be available to join a collaborative team working
to evaluate the resiliency of social and ecological systems in the
complex forested landscapes of the US northern Rockies. Forest
ecosystems here are experiencing climate-induced increases in size and
severity of wildfires and insect outbreaks, altered snowmelt and
streamflow, and drought in concert with ongoing, rapid socioeconomic
changes. We will examine the interaction among climate, land use,
topography, vegetation and disturbances across the steep social and
biophysical gradients. Also, we seek to understand how perceptions of
ecosystem change and attitudes about land management policies are
shaped by emerging scientific information about predicted forest
change in response to climate change and human actions. We will use
models with existing and new data to be collected as part of the
project to analyze the implications of future landscape dynamics for
diversity, function and ecosystem services.



Students with linked dissertation projects will work in the context of
predicted changes in forest ecosystems in the US northern Rocky
Mountains in the coming decades. With funding from the National
Science Foundation’s Integrative Graduate Education and Research
Traineeship program (IGERT), the individual fellows will pursue
disciplinary research important for the overall theme and work
together to identify and address interdisciplinary issues critical for
development of effective planning and policy. The team will interact
with members of five other IGERT-sponsored student/faculty teams
pursuing similar objectives in other ecosystems in which
sustainability and conservation in the face of changing conditions and
pressures are desired.



PhD Assistantship in Landscape Disturbances and Climate Change. We
seek a highly motivated and qualified student to contribute to our
understanding of resiliency in forest ecosystems of the US northern
Rockies. Research will focus on: (1) Identifying thresholds of
resilience (or lack thereof) to changes in climate, land use and
disturbance regimes; (2) Examining the drivers of and interactions
among climate change, wildfires, bark beetle outbreaks, vegetation
change, and land use change over past decades, centuries and
millennia; and (3) Modeling landscape dynamics in the context of
future climate and land-use change. The student will also conduct
collaborative, interdisciplinary research to examine the implications
of past and future landscape change for resilience of human and
biophysical components of forest ecosystems in the US northern
Rockies. The student will work with team members in fields including
landscape ecology, forest ecology, disturbance ecology, fire ecology,
paleoecology, social psychology, and natural resource policy. Contact
Penny Morgan (pmorgan@uidaho.edu), Philip Higuera
(phiguera@uidaho.edu) and Jeff Hicke (jhicke@uidaho.edu).



PhD Assistantship in Ecosystem Response to Disturbance. We seek a
highly motivated and qualified student to conduct research focusing on
the nature, magnitude, and distinguishing attributes of large, severe
ecosystem disturbances and the associated biophysical recovery
processes. Work will include assessing both near-term and long-term
impacts of disturbances and landscape change, and understanding how
the resistance, resilience, cumulative productivity, and recovery vary
under different physical, political, and social contexts. The student
will also conduct collaborative, interdisciplinary research to examine
the implications of past and future landscape change for resilience of
human and biophysical components of forest ecosystems in the US
northern Rockies. The student will work with team members in fields
including landscape ecology, forest ecology, disturbance ecology, fire
ecology, paleoecology, social psychology, and natural resource policy.
Contact Alistair Smith (alistair@uidaho.edu) and Eva Strand (evas@uidaho.edu
)



PhD Assistantship in Social Perceptions of Disturbance, Landscape
Change, and Management Policies. We seek a highly motivated and
qualified student to pursue the study of risk perceptions and
landscape change and the associated policy implications. Research will
focus on: (1) How and why human actions to mitigate the impacts of
disturbances succeed or fail, including the role that adaptive
capacity, stakeholder knowledge, and sense of place play in
effectively responding to climate change, wildfires, bark beetle
outbreaks and other disturbances; (2) How citizens’ and land managers’
perceptions and attitudes of ecosystem change and management are
shaped by emerging scientific information, personal values, and prior
experiences; and (3) The effect that social perceptions have on
natural resource management policy. The student will also conduct
collaborative, interdisciplinary research to examine the implications
of past and future landscape change for resilience of human and
biophysical components of forest ecosystems in the US northern
Rockies. The student will work with team members in fields including
landscape ecology, forest ecology, disturbance ecology, fire ecology,
paleoecology, social psychology, and natural resource policy. Contact
Troy Hall (troyh@uidaho.edu) and Jo Ellen Force (joellen@uidaho.edu).



PhD Assistantship in Ecohydrology. We seek a highly motivated and
qualified student to pursue research focused on the ecohydrological
impacts of climate change. Research will focus on modeling the
cascading effects of climate change on ecosystem processes, including
changes in the distribution and abundance of plant species. The
student will also conduct collaborative, interdisciplinary research to
examine the implications of past and future landscape change for
resilience of human and biophysical components of forest ecosystems in
the US northern Rockies. The student will work with team members in
fields including landscape ecology, forest ecology, disturbance
ecology, fire ecology, paleoecology, social psychology, and natural
resource policy. Contact Katy Kavanagh (katyk@uidaho.edu), Tim Link (tlink@uidaho.edu
) and Jodi Johnson Maynard (jmaynard@uidaho.edu).



PhD Assistantship in Plant-Soil-Disturbance Interactions with a Focus
on Carbon. We seek a highly motivated and qualified student to pursue
research on how plant-soil interactions vary with fire severity across
a range of spatial and temporal scales, and the associated
implications for soil carbon dynamics. The student will also conduct
collaborative, interdisciplinary research to examine the implications
of past and future landscape change for resilience of human and
biophysical components of forest ecosystems in the US northern
Rockies. The student will work with team members in fields including
landscape ecology, forest ecology, disturbance ecology, fire ecology,
paleoecology, social psychology, and natural resource policy. Contact
Jodi Johnson-Maynard (jmaynard@uidaho.edu), Katy Kavanagh (katy@uidaho.edu
) and Alistair Smith (alistair@uidaho.edu).



This unique graduate education program will provide students:



· Team-based interdisciplinary education

· International perspective

· Broad geographic and ecological exposure

· Participation in integrated interdisciplinary teams

· Cross-cultural experience



Requirements: Applicants must be American citizens or permanent
residents of the USA, have a research-based M.S. degree in a relevant
discipline, and demonstrate interest and/or experience in team-based
projects. Students will join the program to begin course work in late
July 2010.



Application deadline: December 1st, 2009 (earlier applications are
encouraged). Interviews of top applicants will be conducted at the
University of Idaho campus in March 2010.



For application information visit the web page: http://www.students.uidaho.edu/gradadmissions/IGERT



For information on our previous IGERT project go to: http://www.cals.uidaho.edu/igert



For information on the University of Idaho College of Graduate Studies
go to: http://www.uidaho.edu/cogs