Southern Illinois University · Illinois · posted today
Description The Holmes lab at Southern Illinois University is recruiting a PhD student for a fully funded, 5-year research assistantship. Application deadline is December 30. Salary is $25,700 per year. The research should focus on the impacts of roads on natural systems in the eastern hardwood forest, ideally with the possibility of improving conservation practices for state and federal threatened and endangered species. Contact Iris Holmes (iris.holmes@siu.edu) for more information. Duties The student will conduct sampling for threatened and endangered bats at new construction sites (approximately 5-10 per year). Sampling will involve laying out tarps to collect fecal samples, preserving samples in the field, extracting DNA from the samples in the lab, and using Sanger sequencing to barcode the samples to identify bat species. A report on species IDs must be completed within 15 days of sample collection. Research focus In addition to bat monitoring, the student will develop a research program as part of the new Roadside Ecology Center at SIU. The taxon focus is flexible, but the research should apply to conservation of threatened and endangered species or to conservation of Illinois habitats. Possible research areas could include (but are not limited to) validating eDNA methods for detection of vertebrates or invertebrates from water samples, using eDNA methods to study connectivity in aquatic systems, developing analytical methods to account for imperfect detection in metapopulation or niche models, quantifying road impacts on animal diets, or determining the impact of construction- or road-related stressors on animal microbiomes or parasite infection rates. Desired qualifications Bachelor’s degree in biology or a related field Master’s degree or 1 or more years of work experience Experience with molecular lab work and/or field work Interest in landscape management or conservation policy
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