Jobs & research opportunities

We are aware of the following opportunities:

• Research Opportunities

PhD studentship
Centre for Research in Ecology (CRE)
Roehampton University, London

Are there small scale biodiversity hotspots in the subsurface of streams?
* Investigation of variation in biodiversity in the subsurface of streams and its relationship with physical and chemical characteristics such as flow paths and temperature.
* Training in field sampling and taxonomy.

In freshwater ecology our understanding of the factors driving the abundance and composition of the subsurface (hyporheic zone) biological community lags far behind our knowledge of physical and chemical patterns even though the subsurface is likely important in pollution attenuation. This area is the interface between surface and groundwater in river systems, where physical, chemical and biological processes change rapidly and the environment is variable with significant fluctuations in, for example, temperature and groundwater flux, at the patch scale (10’s – 100’s cm). This patchy habitat may, in turn, result in a very variable biological community i.e. there may be ‘hotspots’ of subsurface biodiversity at the patch scale. As yet these potential hotspots remain undetected because subsurface assemblages are typically sampled at a much coarser scale. Identifying the location of biodiversity ‘hotspots’ in the subsurface of streams and determining the processes affecting their formation, may help us to understand better the role of subsurface communities in the functioning of the whole stream ecosystem. This project will focus on rivers in southern England. Reaches will be instrumented to enable small scale characterisation of, for example, subsurface flow paths whilst at the same time determining the subsurface communities.

Supervisors
1. Dr Anne Robertson, School of Human & Life Sciences, Roehampton University, Holybourne Avenue, London SW15 4JD a.robertson@roehampton.ac.uk<mailto:a.robertson@roehampton.ac.uk> +44(0)2083923456
2.Dr Peter Shaw, address as above, p.shaw@roehampton.ac.uk<mailto:p.shaw@roehampton.ac.uk> +44 (0) 2083923457

Closing date 24.4.2009
Informal enquiries to Anne Robertson
Application forms available at: http://www.roehampton.ac.uk/graduateschool/finance/Postgraduate%20Bursary%20HALS%20April%202009.html