Opportunity for a PhD fellow in plant ecology and evolution. It is a four-year position with a Norwegian salary at the Arctic University of Norway. The PhD will be part of the Norwegian Centre for Arctic Ecosystem Genomics (ArcEcoGen) at the Arctic University Museum, UiT, Tromsø.
ArcEcoGen centre focuses on the combined effect of humans, climate, and biota on northern ecosystem dynamics in the past, present, and future using environmental DNA (eDNA) techniques. The largest impact of climate change currently seen on Arctic vegetation is the northwards expansion of shrub tundra. However, shrubs may be impacted by a range of factors such as herbivory, snow cover, moisture, and temperatures, and the long-term impact are not well known. Ancient DNA has recently revolutionised our understanding of the effect of past climate changes, as it provides a local vegetation signal of high taxonomic resolution. Unfortunately, the dominant shrub genera, birch (Betula) and willow (Salix), are rarely distinguished to species level in ancient DNA studies. This PhD will focus on 1) developing methods for species-level identification of shrubs from lake sediments, and 2) using latitudinal gradients of sedimentary ancient DNA to study past effects of environmental changes on Arctic greening.
The workplace is at UiT Campus Tromsø. You must be able to start in the position within a reasonable time after receiving the offer. The Research School starts on the 1st of September 2024.
For further information about the position, please contact:
Professor Inger Greve Alsos
email:
Or see further information here:
https://www.jobbnorge.no/en/available-jobs/job/256742/phd-fellow-in-plant-ecology-and-evolution