Two post-doc positions in evolutionary biology

Arbetsbeskrivning

Umeå University - with its 29,000 students and over 4,000 employees - is an organisation in constant change and development. The university's researchers carry out excellence within several areas of research, and many of them are among the world's elite. We are one of Sweden's largest providers of education and offer a broad and attractive range of courses and programmes. Our campus constitutes an inspiring environment for everyone that studies and works here. We wish to co-operate with companies and organisations throughout the Umeå region and all over the world. Two post-doc positions (2 years) on the role of climate change for the evolution of biodiversity The Department of Ecology and Environmental Science has about 170 employees including 50 PhD students. For more information see the department's homepage: www.emg.umu.se/en. See also www.umea.se for a general presentation of Umeå and the University. The aim of the project is to understand how climate change affects evolution and the global distribution of species. The earth is subject to recurrent and rapid climate shifts at various time-scales, but the consequences of this has not been incorporated into models of evolution. Climate shifts cause extinction, splitting, and merging of gene pools, potentially affecting rates of speciation and species extinction. There are two opposing views on the effect of climate change on species diversification. According to one view, climate shifts enhance speciation by promoting lineage splitting. The alternative view is that climate shifts curb speciation by causing extinction or merging of diverging gene pools, as well as leading to species extinction. In the project, models of past climate change are combined with phylogenetic data to address how diversification of species and spatial patterns in genetic divergence within species are affected by climate variability. A paper providing a background to the project is found in Annu. Rev. Ecol. Syst. 33:741-777. Position 1 investigates the role of climate variability for the diversification of species. Data on past climate change from climate models are used together with phylogenies from a range of taxa to test for an association between climate variability and species diversification. Position 2 tests how climatic variability affects the degree of genetic divergence among populations. Data on levels of genetic divergence among populations are combined with data on past climate change from climate models to test for a correlation between genetic divergence and climatic stability, both within species (in cases where climatic stability varies across its geographic range) and between species inhabiting regions differing in climatic stability. To qualify for the positions you should have a PhD degree or equivalent. Experience with geographic information systems and bioclimatic modelling is meriting for both positions. Position 1 requires good knowledge on methods of statistical inference from phylogenetic data. Position 2 requires familiarity with theories on causes for spatial patterns in genetic variation and knowledge on statistical inference using genetic data. The positions are for two years and available immediately, preferably starting no later than September 1, 2009. For more information se http://www.jobb.umu.se

Sammanfattning

  • Arbetsplats: Umeå universitet
  • 2 platser
  • Heltid
  • Publicerat: 26 mars 2009
  • Ansök senast: 31 maj 2009

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