Biodiversity and Ecology (IMBE) a joint CNRS and University institute
with 220 permanent researchers in the field of terrestrial and marine
ecology. The position will last two years and is based in IMBE, directed
by Thierry Tatoni and Wolfgang Cramer, this program is directed by
Agathe Leriche, Cécile Albert and Arne Saatkamp, in Marseille, France -
a region noted for its access to outdoor activities.
We target to start this post-doc in January 2013. The post-doc will be
part of a larger European neighborhood partnership project (ENPI) with
research groups from Rome and Cagliari (Italy), Alexandria (Egypt),
Beirut (Lebanon) and Sfax (Tunisia) on vulnerability of coastal
ecosystems. This post-doc will deal with existing GIS and floristic
databases and the candidate will interact with researchers in our lab
working on a broad range of projects in climate/global change impacts,
macroecological patterns, phylogeography, functional ecology, landscape
ecology and conservation biology.
The project aims to model the impacts of fragmentation (spatial
organization), habitat degradation (land use change) on plant
biodiversity of coastal ecosystems. In this project we aim to fit to
data, plant distribution models (accounting for spatial explicit
migration, neutral (stochastic) processes and community assembly rules)
in order to assess the impact of spatial configuration on plant
diversity and be able to simulate potential future changes in spatial
configuration of these habitats. This project will benefit from a large
data base of plant distributions and co-occurrences as well as extensive
environmental and phylogenetic data gathered in previous projects and
will be in contact with other regional to large scale model project in
our institute.
We look for a person with a Ph.D. in landscape ecology, plant ecology,
biogeography, global change ecology/geography and with strong
mathematical/modeling skills willing to work with spatial explicit
biodiversity data. A background in distribution (niche) modeling,
neutral theory of biodiversity & biogeography and modeling of dispersal
processes at the landscape level will be particularly helpful. We look
for a candidate with excellent English language and especially writing
skills (publication record), willingness to work in a team and strong
experience in modeling techniques in one of the above fields, knowledge
of using R. Knowledge of French language or willing to learn basics is a
plus, but not required. Salary will correspond to French post-doc
researcher positions which include social assurance coverage.
For more information regarding the position contact Dr. Arne Saatkamp
(arne.saatkamp@imbe.fr). For application, please supply a single PDF
document including: (i) a one page statement of interest and
prospectives concerning the project, (ii) a 2 page curriculum vitae
including publication record and (iii) two reference contacts that are
willing to give information on your previous work (mail & phone).
