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HOME > About > Employment > Graduate position, U of Guelph

Graduate Position (MSc or PhD) in Marine Ecological Genetics

Dr. Elizabeth Boulding, University of Guelph, Guelph, Canada

Global warming may allow predators from the subtropics to extend their geographical range into Canada. Range expansions into Canadian waters occurred during the 1997/1998 El Niño event when the entire West Coast experienced abnormally warm sea surface temperatures. This provided an excellent preview of what effects global warming might have on coastal ecosystems because several predator species more typical of California, including the Pacific mackerel and the lined shore crab, became temporarily common in Barkley Sound, Vancouver Island and impacted the distribution of native prey species. Prey species from Canada have not co-evolved with these specialized subtropical predators and consequently may go extinct unless they can quickly adapt.

I suspect that non-indigenous intertidal invertebrate species with free-swimming larval stages are more likely to extend their range into Canada if average sea surface temperatures permanently increase than species with direct development. Additionally, I am curious whether temperate prey species are more vulnerable to invading tropical predators than the temperate ones they have coevolved with.

We are doing experiments to predict what ecological and evolutionary effects these invading species may have on native Canadian species. We have transplanted small predatory crabs to wave-exposed shores by building them concrete shelters near Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre. We have tethered gastropods differ at different distances from the shelters and find that they were most likely to be preyed upon if they were within 2 metres of the shelters and if they have thin shells. We have used microsatellites to estimate the population boundaries (demes) of the snails so we could see how this compared with the selection gradient created by the predators. This work is funded by my NSERC Discovery grants.

Requirements:
Grade average of A- (3.7) or better for the last two years of undergraduate studies.
Canadian citizen or permanent resident
B.Sc. in biology, ecology or zoology
Interest in conservation biology, molecular ecology, near shore oceanography.
Experience with marine intertidal field work or with molecular ecological lab work an asset.
Should be available to start graduate work by September 2009.

Contact Information:

Dr. Elizabeth Boulding
Department of Integrative Biology
University of Guelph
Guelph, Ontario
N1G 2W1

Dr. Boulding's Home Page

Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre
100 Pachena Rd, Bamfield, BC
Canada, V0R 1B0
Phone: (250) 728-3301
Fax: (250) 728-3452

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