Tracing the diversity and impacts of changing microalgal communities University of Otago in New Zealand

We are recruiting a PhD student to work on an inter-disciplinary project spanning the Departments of Biochemistry and Marine Science, looking into the changing nature of microalgal communities around Aotearoa New Zealand. Human activity is having direct impacts on microalgal communities, reducing the numbers of beneficial microalgae and resulting in increasing numbers of harmful algal blooms. This PhD project will help catalogue these changes and their effects, and examine the impact of these changes on our taonga species and ecosystems.

This project is part of an MBIE Endeavour programme, “ From Reactive to Resilient: Effectively managing our changing microalgal communities ”, and will work alongside hapori Maori and communities around the country to gather samples for analysis. The PhD student will have the chance to work with world-leading scientists from around Aotearoa New Zealand, and particularly the Cawthron Institute in Nelson.

It is anticipated that this project will:

·      catalogue microalgal communities using eDNA and metagenomic approaches

·     directly assay microalgal physiology in controlled experiments in a range of conditions, mirroring predicted climate change scenarios

·      use transcriptomic tools to assay gene expression in both microalgae and co-occurring species under changing conditions

The project would suit a student with some existing research experience in fields such as microalgal characterisation, culture experiments, transcriptomics and/or eDNA analysis, but research plans and training can be tailored according to student interest and experience.

This position comes with a tax-free stipend ($33,624 NZ per annum), a tuition fee waiver, and support from the broader work programme, including dedicated networking and training opportunities.

For more information please contact us via the link below. For full applications we will request a CV, a few paragraphs stating your skillset, fit, and reason for interest in the position, and the names of two academic referees.

International applicants with a strong academic and research record are eligible for funding under this scheme (although travel related/visa costs are not covered) and are encouraged to apply.