[Coral-List] Doctoral Opportunity in Coral-Reef Science

[Lauren Toth]

We are seeking applicants for a Ph.D. position to participate in an
NSF-funded project in Dr. Richard Aronson’s Marine Paleoecology Laboratory
at the Florida Institute of Technology:
http://research.fit.edu/marine-paleolab/



Project Description:

The successful candidate will contribute to an NSF-funded project to study
coral reefs in the eastern tropical Pacific. The goal of the study is to
determine how small-scale differences in oceanography affect coral growth
and the ability of the corals to build reefs across a variety of
timescales. The project combines insights from living populations with
paleoecological and geochemical studies of reef frameworks to infer past
conditions that were inimical or beneficial to coral growth and reef
accretion, and to predict how reefs will respond to climate change in the
future. The project abstract can be found at:
http://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1535007&HistoricalAwards=false



Qualifications:

The successful candidate will be responsible for developing coral-based
geochemical calibrations to environmental parameters (temperature,
salinity, etc.) and for generating geochemical reconstructions of Holocene
environmental variability in the region. We are, therefore, interested in
recruiting a student with experience in geochemistry or other
paleoenvironmental reconstructions. The position will also involve
semi-annual research expeditions to Pacific Panama, so all applicants
should have field-based research experience and must be SCUBA certified.
Preference will be given to applicants who have completed a M.S. degree in
a related field.



Interested students should send curriculum vitae, a cover letter outlining
experience and research interests, GRE scores, a writing sample, and the
email addresses of two professional references to raronson at fit.edu and
ltoth at usgs.gov.



*Lauren T. Toth, Ph.D.*

*Mendenhall Postdoctoral Fellow*

U.S. Geological Survey

Coastal and Marine Science Center

*(727) 502-8029*

http://profile.usgs.gov/ltoth

http://coastal.er.usgs.gov/crest/research-themes/holocene.html