Student job opportunities

See this page for US Fish and Wildlife Service internship opportunities for college students.

Why do animals get bigger at colder latitudes?

Congratulations to Chuan-Kai Ho for a recent press release about an upcoming article in The American Naturalist!

Field Research Technician at Audubon of Florida’s Tavernier Science Center

Audubon of Florida’s Tavernier Science Center is seeking a Field Research Technician to fill a full time position monitoring prey base fish populations in the mangrove zone of Everglades National Park, Biscayne National Park, and the Florida Keys. Scientific responsibilities include collection and analysis of fishes and physical data, and maintaining a data base. Field data will be collected from, powerboats, row boats and helicopters. Other job responsibilities include maintenance of vehicles, boats, and all field equipment including nets.

In addition to the duties described above, technicians will be expected to assist with other on-going projects at this research center which include SAV surveys, as well as banding and nest monitoring of roseate spoonbills. Applicants may be required to work long and unpredictable hours alone, in the sometimes-harsh environment of South Florida (e.g., heat and humidity, intense sun exposure, boating in rough seas, exposure to myriad biting insects including mosquitoes and flies), capable of working in close proximity to crocodiles, alligators and snakes, and tolerate project mishaps like broken boats/vehicles, schedule cancellations due to weather, etc. with good humor.

Qualifications

B.S. with a background in marine, estuarine, or wetlands ecology (or similar work experience).

Applicants need to have a valid driver’s license, experience with small boats, and operating vehicles with trailers.

Heavy lifting is required.

A successful candidate will exhibit a strong work ethic, work well in teams and independently in the field.

Individuals who have field experience in Florida’s estuaries, mangrove forests and/or coastal wetlands, sampling and identification of fishes are desired.

Additionally, a basic knowledge of boat maintenance and repair is preferred.

If interested in the position please send a cover letter and resume with 3 references electronically to Michelle Robinson at mrobinson@audubon.org. Closing Date for this posting is November 8, 2009 and the starting date for the position will be in early January 2010.

New graduate fellowship program from the DOE

The Department of Energy has new fellowship opportunities for graduate students in the sciences (including biology). Check out their website for details on the program and how to apply.

Recent publications from the wetlands lab

Here are some of the latest publications to come out of the wetlands lab:
Armitage, A.R. and J.W. Fourqurean. In press. Stable isotopes reveal complex changes in trophic relationships following nutrient addition in a coastal marine ecosystem. Estuaries and Coasts.

Armitage, A.R., V. Gonzalez, and P. Fong. 2009. Decoupling of nutrient and grazer impacts on a benthic estuarine diatom assemblage. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 84: 375-382.

Frankovich, T.A., A.R. Armitage, A.H. Wachincka, E.E. Gaiser, and J.W. Fourqurean. 2009. Nutrient effects on seagrass epiphyte community structure in Florida Bay. Journal of Phycology 45: in press.

Ho, Chuan-Kai, Steven C. Pennings, and Thomas H. Carefoot. 2009. Is diet quality an overlooked mechanism for Bergmann's rule? American Naturalist in press.

Congratulations to Eric

Dr. Eric Madrid, a post-doc in the Coastal and Wetlands Ecology Lab, recently won the Annals of Botany Graduate Prize for an outstanding paper published from his thesis. Good work, Eric!

10 days, 10 nights: Days 9 & 10

One of the questions we revisited many times on this trip was, Why is plant distribution so patchy? The answer to that question varied. Sometimes environmental conditions like soil characteristics, salinity, or nutrient availability explained plant distribution. Other times, the physical environment did not yield such obvious answers. In the salt marshes on Sapelo Island, microelevations in topography contributed to the plant patchiness seen here.

Deposition of wrack - organic marine debris - on the marsh contributed to the formation of bare patches known as salt pans.

Passionflower Passiflora incarnata

Our last night on Sapelo Island, we had dinner at George and Lulu's - a local restaurant serving traditional Gullah/Geechee cuisine.

After this delicious send-off, we spend the next 1.5 days on the road, heading back to Houston, College Station, Galveston, or Corpus Christi. Thanks to the RLEM/MARB 689 students for a memorable trip!