[Coral-List] Graduate student opportunities

[Iliana Baums]

Graduate Assistantships (M.Sc. or Ph.D.) are available in the labs of 
Iliana Baums and
Todd LaJeunesse at the Pennsylvania State University in the areas of 
marine ecology and
evolution.  Prospective candidates should have strong academic records 
and some
research experience is preferred.  In addition to laboratory bench work, 
periodic field
expeditions are an important part of our research and involve collecting 
and experimental
work using SCUBA often in remote locations. Motivation, self-discipline, 
creativity, and
good interpersonal skills are essential. 

Baums and her students work on dispersal, connectivity and reproductive 
biology of
marine organisms, with a focus on tropical corals. Molecular tools are 
used to address
ecological and evolutionary questions with conservation applications. 
Currently, we
are studying the effects of climate change on dispersal in corals and 
other reef taxa.
Research on conservation genetics of elkhorn corals in the Caribbean 
includes
quantification of heritable genetic variation and the role of asexual 
reproduction.
(http://www.bio.psu.edu/people/faculty/baums/Index.htm.)

LaJeunesse and his students work primarily on the ecology and evolution of
endosymbiotic microbes.  Research is currently focused on a diverse 
group of
photosynthetic dinoflagellates that live in the tissues of corals and 
related taxa. 
Molecular approaches are utilized to investigate the biodiversity, 
host-symbiont
specificity, and geographic distributions in order to address questions 
related to co-
evolutionary processes and to learn how these systems respond to severe 
environmental
change.

Penn State (http://www.psu.edu/) offers a stimulating environment and 
excellent
resources for ecological and evolutionary biologists through the Huck 
Institute for the
Life Sciences (www.huck.psu.edu). PSU is a world-renown research 
institution with a
strong reputation in the field of evolutionary genetics through both the 
Institute of
Molecular Evolutionary Genetics and the Intercollege Graduate Program in 
Genetics
(http://www.genetics.psu.edu/) many members of which belong to the 
Department of
Biology (http://www.bio.psu.edu/home). The interdepartmental program in 
Ecology
brings together 49 faculty from across the campus and has a very active 
graduate student
organization (http://www.ecology.psu.edu/). Students may apply through 
the Department
of Biology or through Interdepartmental Programs by Dec 31, 2007 for 
admission in Fall of 2008.


For more information contact
Iliana B. Baums, Ph.D. 
Assistant Professor 
Department of Biology 
The Pennsylvania State University 
208 Mueller Laboratory 
University Park, PA, 16802 
baums at psu.edu
http://www.bio.psu.edu/people/faculty/baums/

Todd LaJeunesse, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor 
Department of Biology 
The Pennsylvania State University 
208 Mueller Laboratory 
University Park, PA, 16802 
tcl3 at psu.edu