PhD Assistantship – Disease and bat community dynamics

We are currently looking to fill a PhD position on the impact of disease on bat community dynamics.  Specifically, the identified student will investigate the community-level response of bat communities across eastern North America in response to white-nose syndrome.  This project builds from recently completed research which revealed altered spatial and temporal niche partitioning in sympatric bat species in New York following the arrival of white-nose syndrome (Jachowski et al. 2014, Diversity and Distributions 20:1002-1015) and will evaluate the extent to which similar or divergent patterns exist regionally across the eastern US.  To address these questions, the student will both conduct bat acoustic monitoring surveys at sites in the southeast, and collaborate with managers and scientists from sites in 8 different states to compile and analyze existing historical datasets.

The student will be based at Clemson University, and jointly advised by Dr. Susan Loeb and Dr. David Jachowski.  Funding for the salary of the PhD student is secured for 4 years through a combination of research and teaching assistantships.

Applicants must possess (or are expected to possess by start date) an MS degree in wildlife biology, ecology or related field.  Applicants should also have an interest in working with relatively large datasets to address community-level questions, and conducting field work involving acoustical detection of bats.  Priority will be given to applicants with advanced writing and quantitative skill sets that are evidenced by past peer-reviewed publications.

To apply, please email a single pdf with the subject line “Bat PhD Assistantship” containing (1) a cover letter outlining your interests, experience, and contact information, (2) a resume or CV, (3) GRE scores, (4) undergraduate/graduate transcripts, and (5) contact information for 3 references to Dr. Susan Loeb at sloeb@clemson.edu.  Deadline for applications is October 5th, 2015.