[Aqualist] PhD opportunity: Alpine ecology and global warming

[Tim Barrows]

From: Mark Burgman <markab at unimelb.edu.au>

PhD Scholarship

A scholarship is being offered by The University of Melbourne to support a
project on climate change in alpine vegetation on the Bogong High Plains,
in the Victorian Alpine National Park. The Project is being funded by the
Australian Research Council, via a Linkage grant. The Scholarship will be
for July 2004-June 2007.

The PhD Project is one component of an experimental test of the effects of
elevated temperatures on plant community dynamics. Temperatures will be
elevated within small, open top chambers (OTCs), which have been
established at replicated sites in grasslands at about 1700 m altitude.
This experiment is one of several being conducted in alpine/arctic
vegetation world-wide via the International Tundra Experiment (ITEX) network.

The PhD project will concentrate on documenting plant responses to elevated
temperatures including growth and phenological responses of dominant
plants, and the changes in vegetation composition over time.

The successful applicant will have an H1 Honours degree, or a high 2A, in
plant ecology or a related field. The project involves a substantial
commitment to field work over summer, working in a team with several other
students and support staff. Preference may be given to candidates with
skills or interests in multivariate data analysis or ecological modelling.

For further details of the Project and the Scholarship, please contact Mark
Burgman (email: markab at unimelb.edu.au).

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Prof. Mark Burgman
School of Botany
University of Melbourne
Parkville, 3010, Australia
03 8344 7151
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