Postdoc Job in Australia:

Plant Community Ecology Postdoctoral Fellow: We invite applications for a postdoctoral position at The University of Queensland, Australia to work with Dr. Margie Mayfield on the ARC (Australian Research Council) funded project: “Testing the importance of large-scale climate factors for plant community assembly following land-use change.”  The successful applicant will be under the direct supervision of Dr. Margaret Mayfield at UQ, but will also work closely with project collaborators: Dr. John Morgan (La Trobe Univ.) and Dr. Stephen Bonser (UNSW), Dr. Peter Vesk (Univ. of Melbourne) and Dan Metcalfe (CSIRO).  The central aim of this project is to empirically test whether plant species and functional trait diversity patterns follow specific response trajectories when reassembling after land use change across large productivity and climate gradients. The successful candidate will be in charge of data collection and analysis for this project, which will involve plant species and functional trait measures in rainforest communities across Australia’s east coast. The successful candidate will also be expected to develop and publish scholarly papers from this project. The opportunity for the successful candidate to expand beyond this specific project will be welcomed and encouraged.  For more information about Dr. Mayfield and the Mayfield lab group please visit our group website: http<http://mayfieldplantecologylab.org/site/Index.html>://<http://mayfieldplantecologylab.org/site/Index.html>

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Position duties: Duties and responsibilities include, but are not limited to:
●      Collaborate with Drs, Mayfield, Bonser, Morgan, Vesk and Metcalfe on project development
●      Identify and select appropriate field sites for data collection
●      Conduct extensive plant species and functional trait data collection in North Queensland, SE Queensland and NSW, Australia
●      Analyse field collected plant diversity and functional trait data
●      Publish scholarly papers
●      Work with colleagues and postgraduates in the development of joint research projects.
●      Contribute to Mayfield lab meetings
●      Contribute to the Mayfield lab social and academic environment

Essential Qualifications:
●      PhD in plant community ecology or related field.
●      Ability to travel extensively and conduct strenuous fieldwork, including plant surveys, soil core extraction and conduct in situ and lab-based physiological plant trait measurements.
●      Demonstrated expert knowledge in the area of theoretical community ecology, plant ecology and ecological statistics
●      Working knowledge of Australia’s rainforest flora OR sufficient botanical training and experience to rapidly acquire these identification skills.
●      Expert knowledge of, or clear ability to rapidly learn techniques for measuring plant physiological traits.
●      Excellent statistical skills and preferably familiarity with R.
●      A proven ability to produce peer-reviewed publications resulting from your research

To apply: See the full ad for this position at the UQ jobs website, posting 493150 (http://uqjobs.uq.edu.au/jobDetails.asp?sJobIDs=493150&lWorkTypeID=1471&lLocationID=&sJobNo=ecology&sKeywords=ecology&lCategoryID=&lBrandID=&stp=AW&sLanguage=en)
Please apply through the UQ jobs website and send a professional CV, a sample of your scientific writing abilities (a published paper or “In review” manuscript) and a cover letter indicating how you meet the selection criteria detailed in the full job ad to m.mayfield@uq.edu.au