[Srm] Fwd: Ecomail--> field assistant position in Ecuador

[Mcclaran, Mitchel P - (mcclaran)]

Sent from iPhone, please excuse brevity and errors

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From: Paul Fine <paulfine23 at yahoo.com<mailto:paulfine23 at yahoo.com>>
Date: March 3, 2014 at 3:20:10 PM MST
To: "ecomaillist at lists.berkeley.edu<mailto:ecomaillist at lists.berkeley.edu>" <ecomaillist at lists.berkeley.edu<mailto:ecomaillist at lists.berkeley.edu>>
Subject: Ecomail--> field assistant position in Ecuador
Reply-To: Paul Fine <paulfine23 at yahoo.com<mailto:paulfine23 at yahoo.com>>

Assistantship in Plant/Herbivore Interactions in the Ecuadorian Amazon

Tom Kursar and Lissy Coley, Department of Biology, University of Utah

We are looking for a highly motivated and capable student who has recently completed a Bachelor’s degree and wants to gain research experience.  Students with expertise in ecology, botany, entomology and other fields of ecology and evolution are encouraged to apply. The work would be as an assistant in a study of the ecology of plant/herbivore interactions.  The field site is Tiputini Biodiversity Station, Ecuador. The position is for ~10 weeks (July 22-Sept 25) 2014.  We will be at the field site full time and we work 6 days per week. The team also will include T. Kursar, L. Coley, and an Ecuadorian assistant.

The aim of the project is to understand the ecology and evolution of plant defenses against herbivores. We are focusing on a speciose Neotropical tree genus, Inga, which is defended by ants visiting extra-floral nectaries as well as an extremely diverse set of secondary metabolites. Our collaborators in Edinburgh and Brazil are constructing phylogenies of Inga and the herbivores. We will address questions such as whether shared defensive traits of Inga are due to common ancestry or to convergence and whether or not herbivores and plants have co-evolved.

Responsibilities include learning to identify about 40 species of Inga, collection of herbivores, botanical voucher specimens, and young leaves for chemical analysis, field measurements of herbivory, phenology of leaf production, rate of leaf expansion, ant visitation, photographing plants and herbivores, and drying of leaves for chemical analysis. The ability to pay attention to detail in data entry and data management is critical. In addition to field and lab work, the assistant should be familiar with simple graphics and data analysis. More information about our research can be found on www.biology.utah.edu/coley/<http://www.biology.utah.edu/coley/>.

This is an excellent learning experience for someone interested in continuing their studies for the MS or PhD. We cover travel, room, board and a salary of $500/month. Knowledge of Spanish is not required, but useful.

Please e-mail a CV, plus the names, email addresses and telephone numbers of three people who can recommend you. Also send a statement describing your education, research background, and career goals. Review of applications will start March 15, 2014. Please send to Dr. Lissy Coley at coley at biology.utah.edu<mailto:coley at biology.utah.edu>
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