[Mitarbeiter.zoologie] Fwd: 2 PhDs: Imperial College London Ecology Evolution Bees

[Robert Paxton]

Dear All,

For those interested, two PhDs are on offer in London.

Robert


> Begin forwarded message:
> 
> 
> 2 Imperial College PhD studentships on the ecology and evolution of bees in a changing planet
> 
> 1. Context dependence of disease spread and virulence in Honey bees
> Supervisors: Peter Graystock, Sophie Evison & Richard Gill
> (secured funding)
> In host-parasite coevolution, the Red Queen hypothesis states that the contest between host and parasite drives continuous adaptation to counter the ever-evolving opposition. Understanding this dynamic is made more complex when external forces intervene to change the environment, particularly anthropogenic activities and the rates at which they occur. The Melissococcus plutonius bacteria is known to be common in honey bees, often without influencing host health. However, unknown triggers can cause this bacteria to express a harmful and often deadly disease known as European foul brood (EFB). This globally distributed disease causes significant damage to the beekeeping industry, and in the UK, EFB is one of only two microbial bee diseases considered so harmful that positive detection requires immediate notification to the authorities. Yet despite the impact of this disease, we currently have little understanding as to what stressors influence the severity and spread of this disease, and if human practices such as land-use change or pesticide application could be influencing the delicate host-parasite interaction. 
> 
> The student will explore the mechanism behind transmission of the causal bacteria of the disease (Melissococcus plutonius), before determining if key stressors (Land and pesticide use) influence the severity of the disease. This directly-funded studentship will employ a suite of cutting-edge scientific techniques to address questions on what modulates the transmission and virulence of this disease. The project will add substantially to our understanding of the vulnerability of bees to this significantly destructive disease and the results will facilitate the formation of evidence-led disease management strategies. The student will gain a set of interdisciplinary skills including field work, next generation DNA sequencing and bioinformatics, pesticide residue analysis, microbiology and honeybee keeping. The student will gain training and collaboration from leading scientists including supervisor Dr Peter Graystock (Imperial College London), Dr Richard Gill (Imperial College London), and Dr Sophie Evison (University of Nottingham), plus assistance from the National Bee Unit/Defra.
> 
> 2. ArcticBuzz: studying population dynamics to understand the evolution of plant-pollinator networks under climate change
> Supervisors: Richard Gill, Jacob Johansson & Keith Larson
> (competitively funded)
> To date our understanding of how insect pollinator declines are influenced by climate change remains limited. For instance, why have some species shown evidence of latitudinal range shifts in apparent response to climate change when others have not? To address this type of question requires us to understand the eco-evolutionary processes by which insect pollinator populations and their host plants are dynamically responding and how this translates to long term changes in the structure of plant-pollinator networks under climate change. Taking a population biology approach, this project will look to understand how bumblebee populations and host plant visitations have changed over the past 50 years for an Arctic bumblebee community in Lapland, Sweden. This will involve understanding how preceding climatic condition has affected population demography of each of 13 species of bumblebee. The study will reveal changes on population trait frequencies over space and time and how resource competition is determined through adaptations to temperature extremes to predict plant-pollinator network structure and the potential for species invasions. Looking at intra- and interannual population and community turnover of the bumblebees and their host plants we will look to inform predictive models under warming scenarios and identify early warning signs of climate change impacts. Furthermore, this project will reveal the spatio-temporal variation (non-static) in the bumblebee-plant visitation network to reveal how resistant and resilient the mutualistic interaction network is to climate change.
> 
> The project takes advantage of a unique phenology transect established over a century ago allowing us to compare past data on bumblebee/plant community composition and phenology with contemporary data spanning the major warming over the last five decades. The transect runs along an altitudinal gradient on Mount Nuolja, Abisko, providing a thermal cline with the study taking a space-for-time substitution approach. The student will become experienced in using a number of interdisciplinary techniques, including a variety of fieldwork skills, bee and plant taxonomic identification, molecular methods in DNA barcoding and population genetics, studying bee thermal profiling, managing and analysing big data, skills in ecological network construction, statistics and developing mathematical models to understand extinction vulnerability. The project will involve a significant amount of fieldwork in the Arctic and will require the candidate to be relatively physically fit. This interdisciplinary project will also benefit from co-supervision & collaboration from a number of world-leading scientists, including: Jacob Johansson (Imperial College and Lund University, Sweden); Keith Larson (Umea University, Sweden); Jason Tylianakis (Canterbury University, NZ), Andrew MacDougal (University of Guelph, Canada); Emily Baird (Stockholm University (Sweden).
> 
> ….
> Where will the PhDs be based?
> The students will based at the Silwood Park campus of Imperial College and hosted by the Gill lab that is well equipped to study bee evolution and ecology. The student will be surrounded by world leading researchers in the disciplines of ecology, evolution and conservation. Facilities include >100 hectares of field site, new controlled environment rooms, microbiology facility, labs tailored for bee research and spacious workspace.
> 
> How to apply
> Please send your CV, a one page cover letter explaining why you are suitable for the project, and the names and e-mail addresses of two referees to Dr Peter Graystock p.graystock at imperial.ac.uk <mailto:p.graystock at imperial.ac.uk> by 13th January 2020 for honeybee EFB studentship or Dr Richard Gill r.gill at imperial.ac.uk <mailto:r.gill at imperial.ac.uk> by 6th January 2020 for ArcticBuzz studentship.
> Informal enquiries for either are welcomed.
> 
> Student eligibility
> Honeybee EFB studentship has secured funding by the CB Dennis British Beekeepers Research Trust and Bee Diseases Insurance Ltd. Applicants should have, or be about to obtain, a Masters qualification and have a 2.1 or higher undergraduate degree in Biology, Ecology, Evolution, Microbiology or similar. Exceptional students at Bachelors level without a Masters will also be considered. Open to UK and EU citizens or applicants with Settled status in the UK. The project will start in September 2020.
> 
> ArcticBuzz studentship is competitively funded by NERC. Applicants should have, or be about to obtain, a Masters qualification and have a 2.1 or higher undergraduate degree in Biology, Ecology, Evolution or similar. To be eligible for a full award they must have either British Citizenship, or Settled status in the UK, meaning they have no restrictions on how long they can stay, or been ‘ordinarily resident’ in the UK for 3 years prior to the start of the studentship - (For non-EU citizens, this must not have been in full time education.). This does not apply to UK nationals.
> 


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