PhD in tropical aquatic ecology (Brazil/Australia)

PhD student opportunity: "Latitudinal trends on function, demographic structure and nutritional ecology of herbivorous fishes along the Brazilian coast" This project aims to characterize the drivers of latitudinal shifts in abundance among herbivorous fishes along the Brazilian coast. The project entails different approaches, including the description of the diet and nutrient acquisition, demographic structure across latitudes and the role of nutrition on the growth performance of herbivorous species.
We are seeking a highly-motivated PhD student to work under supervision of Dr. Carlos Eduardo L. Ferreira and Dr. Thiago C. Mendes. This project is funded by the Brazilian National Science Research Council (CNPq) and was built in collaboration with Dr. Howard Choat (James Cook University - Australia), Dr. Kendall Clements (University of Auckland - New Zealand) and, Dr. Sergio Floeter (Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina - Brazil).

A one-year internship in Australia is guaranteed even though the chosen applicant should enroll for a PhD Degree in Ecology at Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (http://www.ppgecologia.biologia.ufrj.br/).

This project involves intensive sampling along Brazilian reefs. Therefore, the applicant must be willing to travel to different regions of Brazil and prepared (both physically and psychologically) to conduct fieldwork on isolated locations. Experience with boat driving, scuba diving, fish sampling, data analyses as well as fluency in English are also required. The applicant is expected to organize field trips and to be able to prepare and write manuscripts to high-impact peer-reviewed scientific journals.

Interested must send CV and two references to Dr. Carlos Eduardo L.
Ferreira (carlosferreira@ id.uff.br) and Dr. Thiago Mendes (
tcmendes@id.uff.br) until December 15th (2014).

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Carlos Eduardo Leite Ferreira, Dr.
Lab. de Ecologia e Conservação de Ambientes Recifais Universidade Federal Fluminense (UFF) Departamento de Biologia Marinha Caixa Postal 100644, Niterói-RJ 24001-970, Brazil tel.+ 55 21-26292261 Fax. + 55 21- 26292292
Cel: 22 92213001
Email: ca <cadu@vm.uff.br>rlosferreira@id.uff.br
www.lecar.uff.br
www.researcherid.com/rid/J-2571-2012