[Jpjobs] Postdoctoral Fellowship in Marine Biodiversity: Hakai & Smithsonian MarineGEO

[James Yoder]

Postdoctoral Fellowship in Marine Biodiversity 
<https://www.hakai.org/blog/life-at-hakai/postdoctoral-fellowship-marine-biodiversity>
*
*
*/Application review begins March 27, 2017/*

The Hakai Institute and the Smithsonian Institution’s MarineGEO program 
seekcandidates for a Postdoctoral Fellow based at theUniversity of 
British Columbiato lead a detailed assessment and analysis of 
biodiversity in coastal benthichabitats of the Calvert Island Marine 
Station on the Central Coast of BritishColumbia.  Details below and 
here: https://www.hakai.org/marinegeopostdoc

The position is part of an ongoing research program aiming to 
understandnearshore biodiversity of this unique region. We seek a 
Postdoctoral Fellow tolead a detailed biological inventory of this 
region (‘BioBlitz’), and developresearch that takes advantage of this 
inventory and existing biological datasetsto advance our comparative 
understanding and quantitative estimates ofbiodiversity in the North 
Pacific region.

The Fellow’s time will be split equally between leading the “BioBlitz” 
andcomplementary biodiversity research, with data analysis/manuscript 
preparationstemming from these two activities.

*BioBlitz*

The Fellow will lead the BioBlitz in the summer of 2017, an intensive 
fieldcharacterization and analysis of biodiversity along Calvert 
Island’s shorelinesand representative habitats of British Columbia’ 
Central Coast region. TheBioBlitz will be conducted in collaboration 
with the Hakai Institute’s group ofresearchers (Nearshore Marine 
Ecology, Oceanography, Geospatial groups)and with a team of experts from 
the BC region, Smithsonian Institution, andaround the world. There are 
two key components of the BioBlitz:

• A two-week, detailed inventory of representative nearshore 
habitats: seagrass meadows, soft sediment substrates, intertidal rocky 
reef and kelp forests. These inventories will complement and add 
taxonomic resolution to on-going interannual and seasonal monitoring of 
indicator species and functional diversity in these habitats. The Fellow 
will have the opportunity to specialize in particular methods or 
habitats of their interest, but will work with a much larger team of 
taxonomic generalists and specialists to broadly cover the nearshore 
environment.

• Analysis and comparison of benthic subtidal rocky reef biodiversity 
using standardized settlement plates (Autonomous Reef Monitoring 
Structures, ARMS). ARMS have been deployed to sample differences in 
community structure between kelp forests (dominated by 
both Nereocystis and Macrocystis kelps) and de-forested urchin barrens 
in near proximity to the Calvert Island Research Station.
Together, these BioBlitz components aim to integrate taxonomic 
descriptions ofspecies with genetic analyses and community-level data. 
Ultimately, this willproduce an unprecedented level of understanding and 
baseline of habitat-associated marine biodiversity in the Northeast Pacific.

*Proposed Research*

In conjunction with the BioBlitz, there is considerable scope for 
independentresearch employing the BioBlitz collections data, and taking 
advantage ofexisting nearshore habitat monitoring datasets (seagrass, 
kelp, soft sediment,rocky intertidal datasets) and 
oceanographic/atmospheric data.

Using this diverse dataset and collaboration, applicants will propose 
researchquestions (1-page document) pertaining to, but not limited to:

• spatial scaling of biodiversity
• habitat connectivity and complexity
• functional and taxonomic diversity; relationships to ecosystem services
• drivers of change in benthic diversity

Research may focus on either specific habitats or taxa, or address 
comparative,cross-habitat questions. The proposed research should 
contribute tobiodiversity knowledge of the Northeast Pacific region, 
with global context andcomparative relevance through Smithsonian’s 
MarineGEO global network.

*The Fellowship*

The Fellow will be supervised by Margot Hessing-Lewis (Hakai 
Institute),Patrick Martone (UBC Botany) and Mary O’Connor (UBC Zoology), 
withresidency at the University of British Columbia (UBC). They will 
collaborateclosely with other scientists from the Hakai Institute, the 
Smithsonian Institution(Washington D.C.) and UBC (Biodiversity Research 
Center and BeattyBiodiversity Museum, Institute for Oceans and Fisheries).

The candidate must have a Ph.D. in biology, marine science, or 
otherappropriate field, experience in marine field ecology, and clear 
evidence ofresearch achievement and promise. Because the project 
involves acollaborative partnership, strong organizational, 
communication, writing, andpeople skills are essential. Advanced 
quantitative skills, including analysis ofgenomic datasets and taxonomic 
expertise, or community biodiversity data arealso a plus.

*To Apply*

Applications should include (1) a current Curriculum Vitae; (2) a 
one-pagesummary of relevant career goals, interests, experience and 
publications; (3) aone-page proposal of research questions relevant to 
the stated goals of theresearch program; and (4) names and full contact 
information (postal address,email address, and phone number) for two 
references (we will contact themdirectly to request letters of 
recommendation).

Please submit your application electronically as a single PDF document 
to thethree supervisors listed below with the file name and email 
subject heading‘Hakai MarineGEO Postdoc application – SURNAME’ with your 
surname incapital letters.

The position is a Mitacs Accelerate Post Doc, available immediately for 
up totwo years, contingent on satisfactory progress. The stipend is 
$55,000 per year,plus Mandatory Employment Related Benefits. Additional 
funds for researchand travel related to the BioBlitz will also be provided.

*/Review of applications will begin on March 27, 2017 and will continue 
untilthe position is filled./*

The two-year position will start in Spring 2017. Specific start dates 
will benegotiated with the successful candidate. The BioBlitz is planned 
for August2017.


*Project supervisors*

/Dr. Margot Hessing-Lewis/
margot at hakai.org <mailto:margot at hakai.org>
Hakai Institute: https://www.hakai.org/


/Dr. Patrick Martone/
Patrick.martone at botany.ubc.ca <mailto:Patrick.martone at botany.ubc.ca>
http://www3.botany.ubc.ca/martone/

/Dr. Mary O’Connor/
oconnor at zoology.ubc.ca <mailto:oconnor at zoology.ubc.ca>
http://oconnorlab.weebly.com/people.htm



_____________________________________________

*J. Emmett Duffy *
/Director, Tennenbaum Marine Observatories Network/
/Smithsonian Institution/


647 Contees Wharf Road
Edgewater, MD 21037
ph: 443-482-2453
duffye at si.edu <mailto:duffye at si.edu>
______________________________________________







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