Post Doc position

[Jorgelina Marino]

Wildlife ecology postdoc in Singapore 

 

Dr Matthew Luskin and the Ecological Cascades Lab at the University of Queensland (www.ecologicalcascades.com) invite applicants for a postdoc based in Singapore, in collaboration with Prof David Wardle's Forest Ecology Group at Nanyang Technological University.

Southeast Asian wildlife is threatened by habitat loss and hunting while predator declines may trigger trophic cascades. However, some generalist species like wild pigs and macaques thrive in these disturbed conditions, especially if they are able to capitalize on anthropogenic food sources.

A key issue in Singapore is the recolonization of native wild boars (Sus scrofa) that were extirpated from the island for 50 years. The wild boars have now spread into core NParks conservation and recreation areas. This could produce positive or negative environmental and social impacts. Example research questions include: how do wild boars affect other vertebrates and how do they alter food-web structure? What is the population of wild boars in various forests and have they reached their carrying capacity? How do wild boars affect natural plant communities and especially tree recruitment? How do food webs in Singapore differ from other Southeast Asian forests?

To assess these questions, the successful applicant will analyze a large dataset from camera trapping from across Southeast Asia and establish new fieldwork in Singapore. Fieldwork tasks focused on wild boar include demography (camera traps), movement (GPS collaring), and diet (DNA metagenomics of fecal samples). This work will be carried out in multiple NParks protected areas in Singapore.

The Research Fellow will be responsible for leading (i) comparative analyses of Singaporean rainforest food-webs to other sites in Southeast Asia, (ii) collection and analysis of field data described above, (iii) seeing this work through to publication in major research journals. There will be assistance from one full-time Research Assistant and from NParks staff.

Duties and Responsibilities:
Design and implement fieldwork on wildlife ecology
Data management and statistical analyses
Work effectively with NParks and project PIs
Mentor junior colleagues, as needed
Writing and publication of results in peer-reviewed journals

Knowledge and Experience Requirements:
PhD degree in ecology or closely related field
Experience analyzing and publishing using wildlife data
Extensive experience with statistical analysis using R
Prior experience in publishing in peer-reviewed scientific journals
Excellent oral and written communication skills in English

Funding for this position is for one year and at competitive rates. We are reviewing applications immediately and the successful candidate is expected to start in early-mid 2022 and this requires moving to Singapore full-time. There is some flexibility around the start date.

Interested applicants are invited to submit a cover letter, full CV and names and contact details of three referees to mattl...@gmail.com indicating the subject line: “NTU wildlife postdoc + YOUR_LAST_NAME". Kindly note that only short-listed candidates will be contacted for interviews.

Further enquiries can be directed to Dr Matthew Luskin (mattl...@gmail.com) or Prof. David Wardle (david....@ntu.edu.sg).

About NTU and details of the position:
The work will be overseen by Dr Luskin at the University of Queensland (Australia) and is funded by Singapore's National Parks Board (NParks). The position will be based at NTU's The Asian School of the Environment (ASE) in Prof David Wardle's research group. Young and research-intensive, NTU is ranked 11th globally and 1st among the young universities.

More info at www.ecologicalcascades.com