Stillingstittel:
Postdoctoral Research Fellow in DNA Metabarcoring of Herbivore Diet (2016/8420)

Stillingsbeskrivelse:
The University of Oslo is Norway’s largest institution of research and education with 28 000 students and 7000 employees. Its broad range of academic disciplines and internationally esteemed research communities make UiO an important contributor to society.

A three year position as postdoctoral research fellow available available at Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis (CEES), Department of Biosciences.

Within the framework of the position duties may be assigned. The position is available from September 2016. No one can be appointed for more than one fixed-term period at the same institution.

Project description

We generate DNA based diet data and study species and human interactions of the reindeer - one of the last remnants of the Beringian megafauna in the Arctic, keystone species, with high cultural and economic value for indigenous residents. Using DNA metabarcoding we analyze geographic, climatic and seasonal patterns of reindeer diet variation in different socio-economic settings. We will study diet overlap and infer trophic interactions with other herbivore species in the Arctic, such as geese, ptarmigan (Svalbard) and rodents (Finnmark). Our study will test whether reindeer diet changes correlate with warmer/longer summers or variation in population density. We integrate this ecosystem-based information with socio-economic data and local knowledge of reindeer herders to apply adaptive governance for developing co-management actions and implementation of alternative reindeer husbandry practices and mitigation measures for climate and/or land use change. The project is closely linked to the PhyloAlps (LECA, CNRS, Grenoble), ECOGEN (Tromsø University Museum) and REINCLIM (NTNU, Trondheim) projects. Project partners: CEU (Budapest, Hungary) and James Hutton Institute (Aberdeen, Scotland) provide necessary expertise on socio-economic and adaptive governance approaches.

Qualifications:

The Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences has a strategic ambition of being a leading research faculty. Candidates for these fellowships will be selected in accordance with this, and expected to be in the upper segment of their class with respect to academic credentials.

Applicants must hold a PhD-degree in Biology (or other corresponding education equivalent to a Norwegian doctoral degree). Additionally some years of post-doctoral research experience or research experience at this level are considered an advantage. In particular, research experience in DNA metabarcoding including data processing from high-throughput sequencing and bioinformatic analyses, herbivore diet analyses, as well as experience/knowledge of herbivore and arctic community ecology, arctic biodiversity, molecular biology and biostatistics are very relevant. Experience in field work in arctic/boreal regions and student supervision are a strong asset.

The candidate will be hosted by the Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis (CEES) at the Dept. of Biosciences and work on the NCR funded research grant to Galina Gusarova, project nr257642 entitled REININ - Reindeer interactions from plants and birds to humans: balancing the odds of climate change. The work will be done in close collaboration with research teams from the linked projects. The candidate will be engaged in field collecting, laboratory and data analyses stages of the project with the focus on DNA metabarcoding/metagenomics and ecological data analyses and interpretations.

We seek a highly motivated, enthusiastic person with the ambition to push research and methodology frontier and publish papers in leading international journals, and in possession of good interpersonal skills and willingness to work in close collaboration with others.

The main purpose of post-doctoral research fellowships is to qualify researchers for work in top academic positions within their discipli

Minstelønn: 0

Maksimal lønn: 0

Arbeidsgiver Navn: Universitetet i Oslo, CEES, Department o

Arbeidsgiver adresse: 0313 OSLO

Job kort beskrivelse: University and higher education teachers

Land: Norge

Region: Oslo

Kilde til jobbtilbud: NAV, Offentlige arbeidsformidlinger, Norge

Hvordan søke: Annet - se fritekst

Lønn valuta: NOK

Lønn periode: Pr. år