PhD student assistantship: Royal Chitwan National Park in Nepal.

A doctoral graduate student is sought to join an interdisciplinary
project that integrates GIScience, landscape ecology, and human
socioeconomics for studying wildlife habitat and human dynamics. This
project is supported by NSF Partnerships for International Research and
Education (PIRE) program. It will examine how micro-level changes in the
human or environment subsystems would interact with the emergent
patterns in the coupled human-nature system in the Royal Chitwan
National Park in Nepal.

Using micro-level population and remote sensing data, this project will
take a complex-systems approach to examine human-environment
interactions over time and space. Specifically, the student is expected
to develop, evaluate, and use an agent-based model to simulate the
macro-level landscape and habitat consequences of micro-level changes in
the environment, human demography, and socioeconomic/cultural context.
The ABM will incorporate multidisciplinary information (e.g.,
vegetation, wildlife, individual people's decisions) at multiple scales,
answering many scientifically significant and practically important
questions. The student will have opportunities to visit and conduct
fieldwork in Chitwan, Nepal and potentially in Wolong Nature Reserve, China.

Applicants should have strong interests in computer modeling, geography
(especially GIScience), landscape ecology, and forest /wildlife ecology.
Strong quantitative and modeling skills (e.g., computer modeling,
statistics, geographic information systems, and/or remote sensing) and
programming experiences (e.g., C++, Java, or python) are desirable.
Salaries and benefits are competitive. The ideal starting date will be
the 08 fall semester (specifics negotiable).

Applicants should visit the SDSU Geography departmental website
regarding our SDSU-UCSB joint doctoral program at
http://geography.sdsu.edu/Programs/phd.html, and follow the instructions
there. For specific information about the project, please contact Dr. Li
An at lan@mail.sdsu.edu <mailto:lan@mail.sdsu.edu>. In addition to
following the Department's application procedure, interested individuals
may send the following materials to Dr. An (see the contact information
below): (1) cover letter including general and specific research
interests/experiences, (2) statement of professional goals (e.g., plans
after finishing the training), (3) resume, (4) transcripts, (5) at least
three references including names, email addresses, phone numbers, and
postal addresses, and (6) GRE scores and TOEFL scores (for international
applicants only whose native language is not English). Scanned copies or
photocopies of transcripts and GRE/TOEFL scores are acceptable
initially. Dr. An's contact information:

Dr. L. An,
Department of Geography
San Diego State University
San Diego, CA 92182-4493
Office: Storm Hall 315
Phone: (619) 594-5932; Fax: (619) 594-4938; email: lan@mail.sdsu.edu
<mailto:lan@mail.sdsu.edu>
Web: http://geography.sdsu.edu/People/Faculty/an.html

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Li An, Assistant Professor
Department of Geography
San Diego State University
San Diego, CA 92182-4493
Office: Storm Hall 315
Phone: (619) 594-5932; Fax: (619) 594-4938
Web: http://geography.sdsu.edu/People/Faculty/an.html

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