Adaptation of soil invertebrate to environmental extremes – in the ...

1. Laboratory and mesocosm studies to establish tolerance ranges and behavioural
adaptations.
2. Physiological, biochemical/metabolic and gene expression analyses to characterise
adaptive phenotypes in volcanic populations.
3. Population genetic analysis to identify the genetic basis of identified tolerance traits.
Training and guidance will be provided to the student to develop specific and transferable
skills needed to meet the PhD objectives including: physiological and behavioural analysis,
cell biology assays; advanced analytical and microscopy techniques; gene expression
analysis, genome sequence techniques like RAD-sequencing; bioinformatics, data analysis,
and data visualisation; conference presentation and paper writing.
The project will be based within the Soil Biology and Ecotoxicology group at CEH’s
Wallingford site supervised by Dr David Spurgeon
(http://www.ceh.ac.uk/StaffWebPages/DavidSpurgeon.html) and Dr Elma Lahive, and Co-
Supervised by Dr Peter Kille (http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/biosi/contactsandpeople/stafflist/il/kille-peter-dr.html)
within the ‘Organisms and Environment’ division of the Cardiff School
of Biosciences. The student will also work with staff at the University of the Azores. The
main supervisors involved have an excellent track record of overseeing PhD projects and
training students in skills that lead to employment in the academic and commercial research
sectors.
Potential applicants should have an interest in biology and evolution; knowledge of animal
physiology and biochemistry; an interest in conducting fieldwork in challenging
environments. The following skills are also desirable: practical experience of an experimental
research project; knowledge of genetic and/or bioinformatic principles.
Funding Details:
CEH is committed to a high quality graduate training programme to ensure that the successful
candidate has access to opportunities to develop their career skills and experience. For
eligible students a stipend and fees will be provided at the RCUK rate. Please refer to the
CEH website at www.ceh.ac.uk for details of our scientific research and to the NERC website
at http://www.nerc.ac.uk/funding/available/postgrad/ for details of funding eligibility.