Graduate Assistantship (PhD) to participate in a worldwide savanna study.

Texas State University - San Marcos, Department of Biology

I am seeking a graduate student to work on the relative importance of
different resources - water, nutrients, light - to the growth of savanna
tree seedlings and how growth is affected by defoliation and competition
from grasses. The research will be carried out in central Texas as a stand-
alone research project, but the experimental design will be repeated at two
other sites in the United States, and more sites across Africa, Australia,
Asia and South America, as part of a global seedling establishment
experiment. The overall goal of the project is to develop a unified theory
of how trees and grasses co-exist in savannas, addressing whether savanna
species show convergent adaptations for environmental conditions, or
whether there are differences related to continent of origin or species
phylogenies.

The project is in part funded by the Shell Research Foundation and in part
by Texas State University in the form of a teaching assistantship.
Additional funding through internal and external grants is possible.

Feel free to contact me by phone or email for additional information. The
application deadline for the fall semester is February 1, 2008 (soon!).

Please visit the following websites for further information:
The Ecohydrology Lab: www.bio.txstate.edu/%7eschwinn/labindex.html
The Biology Department: www.bio.txtstate.edu
Biology Degree Programs: www.bio.txstate.edu/graduate.html
Texas State University: www.txstate.edu
Application Procedures:www.gradcollege.txstate.edu/applicationproc.html

Please direct inquiries to
Dr. Susan Schwinning
Biology Department
Texas State University
San Marcos TX 78666
Phone: 512-245-3753
Email: schwinn@txstate.edu