Graduate opportunities with Team Shrub at University of British Columbia (UC) in Vancouver, BC, Canada
Team Shrub is the research group of Prof. Isla Myers-Smith at the University of British Columbia and honorary Prof. at the University of Edinburgh.
In 2023, their research group moved to the Department of Forest & Conservation Sciences in the Faculty of Forestry, University of British Columbia; while retaining links to the University of Edinburgh. In 2024, they will be recruiting 2 MSc students, 3 PhD students, 3 postdocs, a research manager and data scientist to Team Shrub now based in Vancouver, BC. The next deadline for applications for MSc and PhD positions is 16 January 2024.
It is an exciting time to be joining the team as they start two new research projects the Canada Excellence Research Chair in Global Change Ecology of Northern Ecosystems and the European Research Council RESILIENCE Synergy Grant with field research in the Canadian North and data synthesis and remote sensing analyses around the circumpolar Arctic.
Positions are fully-funded and full-time, though students are encouraged to also apply for external funding. The specific research topics are flexible, but below they describe the areas in which they hope to recruit students and postdocs. Applicants from Northern Canada, Indigenous applicants and those from diverse backgrounds are encouraged to apply.
Their lab’s research sits at the interface of field ecology, data synthesis and remote sensing and team members usually conduct a combination of field, lab and computer-based research. They are keen to recruit a diverse team of people that are interested in collaborative research, who want to develop quantitative skills and are keen to engage with Northern partners and Indigenous communities. Experience conducting fieldwork or living in the north would be an asset. They encourage students to develop their own specific projects inline with their own research interests within their broad research goals.
Current recruitment opportunities:
They are recruiting for a full-time research manager and a data scientist for the eight-year-long Global Change Ecology of Northern Ecosystems CERC Project. For those positions, they are looking to recruit people with PhD degrees or multiple years of work experience in project management or data management and analysis. For the research manager position, familiarity with or experience working and living in the Canadian North would be an asset. For the Data Scientist position familiarity with R and Python as programing languages and GitHub for version control will be required and familiarity with remote sensing analyses including the analyses of drone imagery would be an asset. If interested please get in touch to discuss these opportunities. The positions will be formally advertised in early 2024.
Postdocs:
They will be recruiting three postdocs in 2024 to lead key elements to their two funded projects. Each postdoc has a particular research theme, but the specific projects undertaken are flexible and would be matched to the interests of the recruited postdoc. They are looking to recruit postdocs with experience in plant ecology with specific expertise in phenology, composition or biodiversity analyses and/or remote sensing and/or statistical ecology. Experience working in Northern ecosystems would be an asset. Postdocs will be expected to have a publication record in international journals and skills in computer programming including data management, statistics, data visualization and version control in the programming languages R and/or Python. Specific expertise in Bayesian analyses and remote sensing would be an asset.
Please write to express your interest and check back to this website for instructions on how to apply. Recruitment will take place in January – April of 2024 or until positions are filled. Project descriptions to be added soon.
PhD positions:
They will be recruiting three PhD students in 2024 in three research areas, but the specific projects undertaken are flexible and would be matched to the interests of the recruited student.
Applicants must have a background in ecology or related fields and ideally have some experience conducting fieldwork and statistical and/or remote sensing analyses. A publication record and experience conducting research in Northern ecosystems would be an asset. Successful applicants will have experience conducting independent research, excellent communication skills, demonstrated success in collaboration and a willingness to engage in issues surrounding diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in science and Northern Indigenous community engagement.
Please get in touch to express your interest (if you have not already). Recruitment will take place in January – April of 2024 or until positions are filled. The application process will be open in December – January with a deadline of 16 January 2024 to meet the UBC application deadline of 1 February 2024.
MSc positions:
They are recruiting for two MSc positions as a part of the Northern Ecosystems CERC Project. The specific topics of these positions will vary based on student interest but could be on one of the themes of the topics below.
Applicants must have an undergraduate degree in ecology or related fields and ideally have some experience conducting fieldwork and ideally coursework in statistics, GIS and/or remote sensing. A undergraduate dissertation and experience conducting research in Northern ecosystems would be an asset. Successful applicants will work well both independently and as a part of a team and will have research experience, excellent communication skills, and a willingness to engage in issues surrounding diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in science and Northern Indigenous community engagement.
Please get in touch to express your interest (if you have not already). Recruitment will take place in January of 2024 or until positions are filled. The application process will be open in December – January with a deadline of 16 January 2024 to meet the UBC application deadline of 1 February 2024.
Undergraduate research positions:
They are in the process of recruiting undergraduate student researchers on Team Shrub UBC. They will be hiring 2–4 summer research positions and there may also be opportunities for work study positions in 2024.
For a full list of available positions visit: https://teamshrub.com/team-shrub/opportunities/
Application process:
To apply for PhD and MSc graduate student positions please use the following steps:
- Write an email to me to express your interest in the position. Clearly indicate in this email your specific research interests as they relate to my team’s research and whether you are interested in applying for an MSc or PhD position or an MSc that you hope to transfer into a PhD position after one year.
- When you are ready to apply before the 16 January 2024 deadline, send the following documents to my email using the subject line ‘Application for Graduate Studies on Team Shrub in 2024’.
- Your up-to-date academic CV – include your degrees, research experience, skillsets including quantitative skills, work experience, other relevant skills and interests including outdoor skills (see https://teamshrub.com/2017/11/24/team-shrubs-tips-cvs-job-applications/)
- A one-page research statement explaining your personal research interests and how you believe they fit within Team Shrub’s research activities. Within this statement pitch a project that you could undertake as a part of your degree. Please include research questions and hypotheses in this research statement.
- A one-page team contribution statement on the contributions that you believe you could make to Team Shrub and their research program including your team work philosophy, your approach to collaborative research, your field, lab and quantitative research expertise, your philosophy on EDI in academia and the approach you will take to research in the North with local and Indigenous collaborators. This statement does not need to be comprehensive, but should talk about your personal philosophy and how you approach these topics.
- Your transcript for your most recent degree – this can be the unofficial transcript at this stage. You can include more transcripts if relevant.
- References – the contact information including emails for two references who can speak to your research experience.
- Example Research Project – Please share an example research project that you would like to include as a part of your application. This could be a thesis from a previous research degree, a published or in development manuscript or another piece of scientific writing that shares your previous research experience.
No cover letter is required for the application, as you can include that information in the two statements and cover letter material will not be considered in the evaluation of candidates. Please use a minimum of 11 pt font that is easy to read (Arial or similar) and letter sized paper. Please make sure that all files are uniquely named with the document type, your name and the date. Keep the different files separate rather than combining them into one file.
Applications will be accepted until 16 January and selections for interview will be made by 18 January with interviews during the week 22–26 January and selections for positions will be made in advance of 1 February for a start in September 2024. A small data analysis challenge exercise will be sent to applicants selected for interview on 18 January for submission before the interview for students to complete. Interviews will consist of standard questions including a discussion of previous research experience and future research interests. The recruitment panels will involve other members of the two research projects and/or existing members of Team Shrub in the selection process.
Selected students may also be able to start before the field season or join as field assistant during the 2024 field season or delay their start until January 2025, if that is of interest.
Research topics they are particularly interested in supervising include (but are not limited to):
- Exploring the impacts of tundra vegetation change with warming on wildlife habitats.
- Phenology/growth-climate relationships in tundra plant species using time-lapse photography, ecological monitoring, common garden experiments, dendroecology and/or drones.
- Testing the correspondence and scaling between remotely-sensed tundra greening and landscape and plot-level vegetation change using drones, satellite data and ecological monitoring.
- Exploring the thermophilization, increase in warming loving plants, of tundra plant communities.
- Using camera traps or autonomous recording units (ARUs) to quantify habitat use in Arctic or alpine tundra habitats undergoing shrub encroachment.
- Quantifying the drivers of boreal forest vegetation change including shrubification.
- Using hyperspectral data to capture biodiversity change in tundra ecosystems.
- Impact of extreme weather including heat waves on tundra vegetation.
- Below ground ecology in tundra ecosystems.
- Vegetation-permafrost-climate interactions using drones, historical ecology, repeat photography and ecological monitoring.
- Co-developed questions working with Indigenous communities about climate change impacts in Arctic or alpine tundra of the Yukon Territory.
- Testing the links between biodiversity change and climate warming or land use change in tundra or global biodiversity datasets.
