These two positions are available at UC-Santa Barbara for a newly funded Lake Baikal Dimensions of Biodiversity research project. More postdoc and student positions soon will be advertised at the collaborating institutions listed below...
Postdoctoral Fellow
We seek a postdoctoral research associate to primarily focus on identifying the biotic and abiotic drivers of temporally shifting community dynamics in plankton assemblages, through the analysis of long-term data from Lake Baikal. The postdoc also will collaborate more generally on multiple themes of biodiversity research at the lake.
The postdoc will be based at the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (http://nceas.ucsb.edu) at the University of California, Santa Barbara, working under the supervision of Stephanie Hampton (http://nceas.ucsb.edu/~hampto
The successful candidate ideally will have (or soon have) a Ph.D. in ecology or a related discipline, a strong background in freshwater ecology, a record of peer-reviewed publication, a solid background in statistics, and a willingness to learn Russian and to spend two weeks each summer at Lake Baikal with colleagues.
Start date is negotiable, ideally 1 January 2012. Please feel free to ask questions about your fit to the position before applying (hampton@nceas.ucsb.edu). To apply, attach your CV to an email that describes your interest in the position and gives the name and contact information for three references; send this email to hampton@nceas.ucsb.edu with the subject line: Baikal postdoc application.
Review of applicants will begin 14 November 2011.
Information Manager
We seek an environmental Information Manager for a 3-yr project focused on biodiversity in Lake Baikal. The Information Manager will interact with environmental informatics experts at UCSB and distributed project personnel to ensure that data are managed in accordance with best practices, training all project personnel in quality assurance and quality control protocols for data and metadata entry and management.
The Information Manager will be based at the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (http://nceas.ucsb.edu) at the University of California, Santa Barbara. The Information Manager will work under the supervision of Dr. Stephanie Hampton (http://nceas.ucsb.edu/~hampto
While the focus of the position is on data management and maintaining excellent communication among data users, ideally the Information Manager also will be meaningfully engaged with the science and logistics of working on Lake Baikal in Siberia.
The successful candidate likely will have at least a bachelor's degree, willingness to learn some basic Russian, excellent interpersonal communication skills, and experience working with large environmental data sets. Ideally the Information Manager would also have a background in aquatic ecology, experience managing scientific logistics (field or lab), and proficiency in Plone web site maintenance.
Start date is negotiable, but ideally 1 January 2012. Salary and benefits are expected to be consistent with appointment at the level of Junior Specialist 1 at UCSB: http://ap.ucsb.edu/compensatio
To apply, attach your CV to an email that describes your interest in the position and gives the name and contact information for three references; send this email to hampton@nceas.ucsb.edu with the subject line: Baikal information manager application.
Review of applicants will begin 14 November 2011.
Lake Baikal - Spanning more than 4 degrees of latitude and obtaining a maximum depth greater than 1.6 km, Siberia's Lake Baikal is the world's deepest and most ancient lake. Biological diversity of this ancient lake is extraordinary, strongly influencing UNESCO's 1996 decision to designate Lake Baikal a World Heritage Site. Many of these species are endemic and adapted to Lake Baikal's unique environment, a comparatively cold and extreme lake. The unusual endemic fauna include the world's only exclusively freshwater pinniped species (the Baikal seal Phoca sibirica), 344 species of amphipods, and 33 species of sculpin fishes, including the deep-dwelling translucent golomyanka (Comephorus baicalensis and C. dybowskii).
For a project abstract, see:
http://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch
For more information about the history of this Russian-American collaboration, see: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05
Several papers describing work to date on one of the primary Baikal data sets can be found here:
http://www.nceas.ucsb.edu/~ham
The department is especially interested in candidates who can contribute to the diversity and excellence of the academic community through research, teaching and service.
An Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer, or An EO/AA Employer.
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Stephanie E. Hampton
Deputy Director
National Center for Ecological Analysis& Synthesis
University of California, Santa Barbara
735 State St., Suite 300
Santa Barbara, CA 93101-3351, USA
http://www.nceas.ucsb.edu
hampton@nceas.ucsb.edu
Tel (805) 892-2505
Fax (805) 892-2510
