Funded Ecosystem Ecology MSc or PhD position — Virginia Tech

Funded Ecosystem Ecology MSc or PhD position — Virginia Tech

Posted: 08/14/2024

Expiration Date: 12/01/2024

Dr. Erin Hotchkiss (Department of Biological Sciences, Virginia Tech) is seeking applicants for one funded Ecosystem Ecology M.Sc. or Ph.D. student with a start date of August 2025. The new student will contribute to a collaborative research project led by Dr. William Hopkins and Dr. Erin Hotchkiss that was recently selected for funding: "Integrating organismal biology and biogeochemistry to develop science-informed actions to conserve stream biodiversity in a changing climate".

Are low-oxygen events in river habitats turning hell bender fathers into nest cannibals? Our newly funded collaboration seeks to characterize the causes of dissolved oxygen dynamics in river habitats to inform freshwater biodiversity conservation, with a project focus on the declining populations of eastern hell benders in southwestern Virginia, USA. Eastern hell benders (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis alleganiensis) are a giant freshwater salamander species endemic to the eastern United States, and have a conservation status of "Species of Greatest Conservation Need" in Virginia.

Populations of eastern hell benders are declining in most rivers and predicted to go locally extinct in rivers experiencing high rates of riparian deforestation. One reason for declining hell bender populations is a high rate of paternal cannibalism in degraded river sites, but the mechanism causing hell bender fathers to cannibalize their young instead of guard their nest is unknown. Our new project will test a potential cause of paternal cannibalism: low-oxygen conditions in hell bender nests at the sediment-water interface, especially those receiving excess sediment pollution due to deforestation.

Dissolved oxygen concentrations are decreasing in many aquatic ecosystems across the globe, with predicted ongoing declines due to increasing temperatures, changing precipitation and flow regimes, and landscape alterations that increase pollution inputs to waterways. While many rivers have sensors installed to monitor water column dissolved oxygen concentrations, these sensors do not directly capture the environmental conditions many biota experience at the sediment-water interface, and we are thus missing the data needed to understand the habitat conditions of sensitive biota.

You can read more about how "Cannibalistic Dads May Be Contributing to Hellbender Salamander Declines" in a recent article highlighting research findings by project lead Dr. Hopkins here.

The primary responsibilities of the graduate student working with Dr. Hotchkiss on our project team will be to develop and answer biogeochemistry and ecosystem ecology research questions related to (1) understanding the patterns and causes of low-oxygen conditions at the sediment-water interface in rivers, (2) connecting river low-oxygen dynamics at the sediment-water interface to more commonly-monitored water column dissolved oxygen concentrations, (3) predicting how the prevalence of low-oxygen conditions may increase with future climate change projections, and (4) informing conservation actions to reduce population declines and minimize local extinction risk of eastern hell benders.

We do not expect applicants to have all of the skills and knowledge to conduct this research when they apply; developing new skills is part of the graduate student training process. The graduate student will work collaboratively with other members of the project team (graduate students, research technicians, undergraduate researchers, postdocs, professors, and conservation partners) to conduct fieldwork and/or data analyses for their own research as well as research supporting broader project goals.

The student will receive up to three academic years (fall and spring semesters) and four summers of salary support as a Graduate Research Assistant from the funded project. Additional years of funding, as needed, will be supported by departmental graduate teaching assistantships, student-obtained fellowships, and/or other lab-funded projects. The current stipend for graduate students in the Department of Biological Sciences is ~ 31,800 USD annually.

All funded M.Sc. and Ph.D. students receive student health insurance and full tuition waivers; graduate student comprehensive fees cannot be paid by NSF or GTA funding awards.

Please see  for more information about preferred applicant qualifications, the expectations and benefits associated with joining our research group, and how to apply. We anticipate scheduling the first round of Zoom interviews with top potential applicants (who emailed a letter of interest and CV) by mid-October 2024.