PhD POSITION IN MACROGENETICS
I am recruiting a PhD student to join the Biodiversity and Population genetics lab at Dalhousie University. We study big-picture questions surrounding spatial patterns of biodiversity from a population genetics perspective. Students will work with and contribute to building a large database of population-level microsatellite datasets in terrestrial vertebrates and potentially other taxonomic groups. The position will be fully computational with no field or lab component.
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Potential PhD projects include either urban evolutionary ecology or the biogeography of genetic diversity, depending on student interests. The urban ecology and evolution project will focus on understanding the relationships between wildlife genetic diversity across species and neighborhood racial composition in Canadian cities. Projects on the biogeography of genetic diversity will focus on describing multi-species patterns of genetic diversity from continental to global scales and understanding how these patterns are related to environmental factors and other aspects of biodiversity. For more information about the kind of work we do, please see our research themes and publications.
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Applications are welcome from those curious about evolutionary ecology, population genetics, biogeography, and macroecology who are interested in developing quantitative skills (R coding, GIS, and statistical modeling including hierarchical modeling and modeling spatial data). Previous experience with these topics is a bonus, but not required! If these types of research questions interest you please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
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Preferred start date is September 2025 (this is flexible). The position is fully funded.
To apply, please send (1) a motivation letter describing your reasons for applying, and your research interests and how they intersect with those of the lab; (2) a CV; and (3) contact information for two academic references to Chloé Schmidt (chloe.schmidt[at]dal.ca).