Closing: Please contact me by September 15, 2023. M.Sc. required. Candidates should have publications in mainstream peer-reviewed journals and a GPA equivalent of A, or 85, over the past two years of coursework.
Apply: Email CV and pdf copies of both undergrad and graduate transcripts. Email to philip.mcloughlin@usask.ca. Please write Moose Ecology as the subject line.
Description: In collaboration with the Saskatchewan Ministry of Environment, Environment and Climate Change Canada, industrial partners, and Indigenous groups, USask has established a research program on the ecology of moose and interactions between moose, deer, boreal caribou, and their predators in northern Saskatchewan, Canada. This opportunity is specific to moose to understand the linkage between habitat selection and survival, and gain important insight into population dynamics (survival, recruitment, and trend), harvest, and relationships with predators and other ungulates. The Ph.D. is fully funded commencing January 1 2024; and will interface both theory and applied ecology to inform management of moose in Saskatchewan and abroad. Fates of approximately 100 moose in Saskatchewan will allow us to develop a deeper understanding of moose population ecology in an area undergoing rapid landscape change and the emergence of novel disease, including meningeal worm. The student will help develop and test theory on causes and consequences of landscape and environmental change, while helping us to meet objectives of developing a strong understanding of the applied ecology to inform management. Field work will principally occur in winter and include coordinating logistics and participating in moose captures in March, 2024, for GPS collaring; and especially timely investigation of moose mortality sites. This Ph.D. will complement the graduate and post-doctoral projects of several students, whom will be working together to promote a multidisciplinary project aimed at conserving wildlife and promoting northern food security.
The Ph.D. is funded at $25,000 CAD per year; however, students will be expected to apply for internal and external scholarships, including NSERC post-graduate scholarships (if Canadian). Preference will be given to Canadian students or permanent residents that are eligible for the October, 2023, NSERC scholarship intake. Indigenous students are especially encouraged to apply.
The successful student will have an opportunity to engage with a large lab working on related questions with respect to large-mammal population dynamics, including a current M.Sc. student working on moose-deer comparative habitat selection. There will also be opportunities to work collaboratively with a diversity of staff from the Ministry of Environment. Students can expect to publish outside of ones own thesis topic as part of whole-lab research questions.
Evidence of familiarity with ungulate population dynamics, generalized linear models, and programming in the R language is an asset.
Interested applicants should contact me as soon as possible by email (philip.mcloughlin@usask.ca), and be prepared to submit a current CV with copies of transcripts. Website: http://mcloughlinlab.ca/lab/
