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Sandra Nogue, Peter Convey, Mary Edwards, Dominic A.Hodgson, Paul Hughes
Rationale:
Terrestrial environments of the sub-Antarctic and Antarctic present extreme challenges for life. However, during the last glacial period (and previous periods), Antarctic terrestrial life faced even more extreme environmental conditions, in particular with a drastic reduction in available terrestrial habitats (1). However, our current understanding of terrestrial biological range changes and dispersal processes in Antarctica as a consequence of changing environmental conditions throughout glacial cycles remains unclear. A combination of peat cores, monoliths, and pollen traps obtained in recent years in BAS, SOGES, and collaborating projects along the length of the Antarctic Peninsula and Scotia Arc provide a unique opportunity to advance this field. This project will use them to reconstruct vegetation dispersal and distribution (pollen, spores) and other biological proxies (e.g. guano-derived geochemistry) (2), contained invertebrate and microbial community elements (3)) across the latitudinal range from South Georgia (53°S) to northern Alexander Island (69°S). We will analyse, over short- and long-term, dispersal processes and the impacts of major drivers of change (e.g. climate) on life on land across this paradigmatic region for studies of climate change. The use of moss/peat cores allows, in particular, inference of biological processes occurring in summer, increasing the biological relevance of our reconstructions.
Methodology:
The student will focus on reconstructing palaeoecological records from existing moss/peat core or monoliths that represent different ages, from around one century (Alexander Island, South Sandwich Islands, to 2-3,000 years (Signy Island, Elephant Island), with older locations up to 5,500 years known to exist (but that would require new fieldwork to access material). The student will also work on existing pollen traps collected from some of the study sites mentioned above. If opportunity presents, further field collection from specific locations may be advantageous (e.g. Antarctic Peninsula via Collaborative Antarctic Science Scheme (CASS) application; southern South America), but is not integral to the project. Palaeoecological analyses will focus on developing high-resolution: pollen and spore records (i.e. vegetation change), geochemical data for detecting key biologically-informative trace elements (e.g. Sr, Cu, Zn, Se, Ca, Se, P, C, N, S) (2), and invertebrate fragments throughout the cores to reconstruct changes in the contained invertebrate communities. Finally, the student will undertake comparison between these records and existing palaeoclimatic and palaeoenvironmental literature. Climate reconstruction and limited specific taxonomic studies have been completed using some of these cores to date, but no attempts to reconstruct either habitat characteristics over time or dispersal processes have been made.
Location:
University Of Southampton/British Antartic Survey (BAS)
Training:
The INSPIRE DTP programme provides comprehensive personal and professional development training alongside extensive opportunities for students to expand their multi-disciplinary outlook through interactions with a wide network of academic, research and industrial/policy partners. The student will be registered at the University of Southampton and hosted at the School of Geography and Environmental science, with regular contacts with and visits to BAS (> 6 months). Specific training will include: (i) Training in palaeoecological methods such as palynology (fossil pollen and spores), identification of invertebrate remains, and geochemistry; (ii) Statistical analysis using R, and (iii) the student will be trained in developing and understanding long-term datasets and integrate them within a complex systems framework. The student will also have the opportunity to participate in training for other professional skills (e.g. scientific writing and presentation, media and public engagement, polar and remote fieldwork planning).
Eligibility & Funding Details:
Please check http://inspire-dtp.ac.uk/how-apply for details.
To apply, please click the following link:https://studentrecords.soton.ac.uk/BNNRPROD/bzsksrch.P_Login?pos=8296&ma...
General enquiries should be directed to the GSNOCS Admissions Team on gsnocs@soton.ac.uk
Background Reading:
1) Convey et al (2009) Exploring biological constraints on the glacial history of Antarctica. Quaternary Science Reviews, 28, 3035-3048. 2) Roberts et al (2016) Past penguin colony responses to explosive volcanism on the Antarctic Peninsula. Nature Communications, DOI: 10.1038/ncomms14914 3) Roland et al (2017) Taxonomic Implications of Morphological Complexity Within the Testate Amoeba Genus Corythion from the Antarctic Peninsula. Protist, 168, 565-585.
Contact Email:
The Max Planck Institute for Meteorology (MPI-M) is a multidisciplinary center for climate and Earth system research located in Hamburg, Germany. MPI-M contributes to the BMBF project "From the Last Interglacial to the Anthropocene: Modeling a Complete Glacial Cycle" (PalMod, www.palmod.de), which aims at simulating the climate from the peak of the last interglacial up to the present using comprehensive Earth System Models.
For phase II of this project we have an open position within the Cross Cutting activity on model coupling for a
Postdoctoral Scientist (W070).
Melting and growing of ice sheets during glacial cycles is accompanied by pronounced sea level changes. The resulting flooding of land areas and drying of continental shelves lead to changes in the oceanic coastlines. In case of flooding, carbon and nutrients – previously stored on land – are transferred into the ocean. These terrestrial sources of organic matter due to sea level changes influence the global ocean biogeochemistry, with implications for the uptake and release of carbon. The successful candidate will address whether this land-sea carbon transfer on the shelves plays a substantial role for the glacial-interglacial CO2 variations. The goal of this work will be to assess the regional and global effects of the land-sea coupling in the context of the MPI’s Earth system model including its ocean biogeochemistry component HAMOCC. The successful candidate will be part of the Research Group Ocean Biogeochemistry in the Department The Ocean in the Earth System.
For further information regarding the position, please contact Tatiana Ilyina (tatiana.ilyina(at)mpimet.mpg.de). Do not forward your application to this email address; the application needs to be submitted through the online application system (see link below).
Requirements:
· A PhD in Geosciences, Oceanography, Environmental Sciences, or a related field.
· Experience in performing and analyzing experiments with a comprehensive Earth system model or ocean biogeochemical model.
· Motivation and ability to participate in model development in an interdisciplinary and international environment.
· Ability to work autonomously and self-responsible.
· Excellent communication skills and publication record;
· Familiarity with coding and running computer models, very good programming skills in C++ and/or FORTRAN (on a HPC Linux platform) and scripting;
· Knowledge of the MPI-Earth system model or the model HAMOCC would be of advantage.
Employment conditions
· The position is starting as soon as possible. The contract for phase II of PalMod ends 30 September 2022.
· Payment will be in accordance with German public service positions (TVoeD E14) including extensive social security plans. The conditions of employment, including promotions and duration, follow the rules of the Max Planck Society for the Advancement of Science and those of the German civil service.
· The Max Planck Society strives for gender and diversity equality. We welcome applications from all backgrounds.
· Handicapped persons with comparable qualifications receive preferential status.
Selection criteria
Candidates will be evaluated based on their qualifications and ability to fulfill the responsibilities as outlined for this project.
Deadline for applying
All applications received prior to January 25, 2020, will be given full consideration. The search will be continued until the position is filled.
We are looking forward to receiving your application
including the following documents:
1) a cover letter,
2) a detailed curriculum vitae,
3) copies of certificates, and
4) the names, addresses, and telephone numbers of two referees
Please submit the application to our online application system:
https://s-lotus.gwdg.de/mpg/mhmt/perso/mpim_w070.nsf/application
