Student Opportunity Announcements
Graduate Student Assistantship, Aquatic Ecology
We have National Park Service funds to support a graduate
student (preferably PhD) under the guidance of Dr. W. Charles
Kerfoot to examine the presence of the invasive species,
Bythotrephes longimanus in northern National Parks and
Lakeshores. The spiny cladoceran is actively colonizing inland
lakes near Lake Superior and Lake Michigan. The first year of
the metapopulation study involves traveling to four parks and
lakeshores (Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, Pictured
Rocks National Lakeshore, Isle Royale National Park, and
Voyageurs National Park), checking 34 lakes with Ekman
samples and plankton tows to determine the extent of
Bythotrephes invasion. Subsequent years involve extensive
study of Park and Michigan Upper Peninsula lakes that have
Bythotrephes, to assess foodweb and ecosystem effects. The
project utilizes sediment core and pelagic studies of these
whole-lake experiments to examine invasion effects on
plankton communities and fish species. Undergraduate and
Park Ranger assistance will be available for field work.
Submit (1) statement of your purposes for graduate study,
your professional and research interests and your
expectations for career and employment in the future, (2)
resume, (3) transcripts, (4) list of three references including
email and postal addresses and phone numbers, and (5) GRE
and TOEFL (if applicable) scores. Photocopies of documents
are initially acceptable. Please email documents or inquiries
to:
W. Charles Kerfoot, wkerfoot@mtu.edu, Department of
Biological Sciences, Michigan Technological University, 1400
Townsend Drive, Houghton, MI 49931