NSF Fellowship: Ph.D. Assistantship on Wood Duck Physiological Ecology Title:
Effects of incubation temperature on physiological and life history traits of wood ducks.
Project: There have been relatively few attempts to measure the fitness cost of incubation to parents. This project will use incubation temperature to manipulate chick phenotype and then examine effects of these modifications on fitness. Our overall goals are to examine the importance of incubation temperature during early development, and to provide a better understanding of how reproductive tradeoffs made by females influence their fitness. The graduate student will work with a team of scientists examining these important interdisciplinary questions, but will primarily be focused on quantifying the effects of temperature on bioenergetics of embryos and chicks, and determining how changes in incubation temperature influence the thermoregulatory capacity of young birds.
Required Qualifications: Applicants must have received a M.S degree in wildlife biology, ornithology, physiology, or related field before the start date. A proven track record publishing manuscripts in peer-reviewed journals is required. Applicants with experience working with birds and/or with egg development are preferred. The successful applicant will be required to spend up to 3 months at a field site in South Carolina each year, but the remaining research will be conducted at Virginia Tech. Three years of full support will be provided by a grant from the National Science Foundation, but the awardee is expected to actively assist the PI in obtaining funds for the 4th year of their Ph.D. program.
Start date: August 2007 Faculty contact: Dr. William Hopkins, Fisheries & Wildlife Sciences, Virginia Tech.
Interested applicants should submit their CV (with publications and at least 3 professional references listed) and a letter of interest (including GRE scores and grade point average for Bachelor's and Master's degrees) to hopkinsw@vt.edu.
Selected applicants will be asked to make a formal application to the graduate school at VT before acceptance.
Please contact William Hopkins at hopkinsw@vt.edu for more information.