Graduate Research Assistantship Available
Modeling Patch Scale Expansion of Arctic Shrubs
Department of Geography
Texas A&M University
College Station, Texas
This position is open until filled.
For further information, please contact:
David Cairns
Email: cairns [at] tamu.edu
Phone: 979-845-2783
A graduate research assistantship is available for a student pursuing a
PhD focusing on shrub expansion in the Alaskan Arctic. The funded
project involves mapping and modeling patch-scale expansion of arctic
shrubs. The approach taken in this study is to utilize historic and
contemporary aerial photographs of sites in the National Petroleum
Reserve to categorize rates and patterns of shrub expansion. Grid-based
spatial modeling of shrub expansion will be used in this study.
Candidates for this position should have some experience with the
interpretation of aerial photographs, geographic information systems
(GIS), and modeling. The ideal candidate will have some computer
programming background. The intention is for this funded research to
form the core of the student's dissertation research and allow for some
latitude in the development of questions and methods appropriate to the
expansion of arctic shrubs.
The Texas A&M Geography Department has a strong biogeography program
that focuses on plant ecology and human/environment interactions. The
Department also has strengths in Geographic Information Science and
Remote Sensing. Opportunities exist to take classes in ecology,
biogeography, GIS, and remote sensing, both in the Geography Department
and around campus. Students seeking training in biogeography and plant
ecology will find an extensive network of faculty on the A&M campus in a
variety of supporting programs (e.g., Ecosystem Science and Management,
Entomology, Wildlife & Fisheries Science). Texas A&M also has a large
group of faculty interested in Arctic and Antarctic issues
(http://psp.tamu.edu). For more information about the Geography program
at Texas A&M, please visit the Geography Department website
(http://geography.tamu.edu).
Support includes tuition and an annual stipend; the position is slated
to begin in Fall 2009.
For more information, please contact:
David Cairns
Email: cairns [at] tamu.edu
Phone: 979-845-2783