PhD Assistantship – Ruffed Grouse Occupancy & West Nile Virus Risk

PhD Assistantship – Assessing Dynamic Occupancy of Ruffed Grouse and Associated Forest Birds Across a Gradient of West Nile Virus Risk in Pennsylvania

Department of Forestry & Natural Resources, University of Kentucky

Ruffed grouse (Bonasa umbellus) are highly revered by both hunters and non-hunters across the eastern United States, however, eastern grouse populations have been consistently declining over the past several decades primarily due to young forest habitat loss. The introduction of West Nile virus (WNV) into the United States has only accelerated this decline over the past two decades. In Pennsylvania, ruffed grouse has been designated as a Species of Greatest Conservation Need and there is enormous need to determine the impact of various stressors (e.g., changing spring weather, disease, landscape changes) to patterns of grouse occurrence and abundance.

The successful candidate will pursue a Ph.D. degree at University of Kentucky (UK) in the Department of Forestry & Natural Resources (https://forestry.ca.uky.edu/), advised by Dr. D.J. McNeil (https://darinjmcneil.weebly.com) and will develop a research project that builds our understanding of how landscape characteristics and West Nile Virus (WNV) disease risk affect occupancy of Ruffed Grouse and associated bird species (e.g., Eastern Whip-poor-will, American Woodcock). All sampling will be done by deploying and recovering Autonomous Recording Units (ARUs; AudioMoth, Song Meter, etc.) and running classifiers we have previously developed for focal species. Focal research areas will include: 1) Quantifying occupancy of grouse, whip-poor-wills, and woodcock across a gradient of WNV risk, 2) Assessing patterns of colonization and extinction through the use of dynamic occupancy models, and 3) potentially assessing patterns of occupancy for other species across WNV risk or other landscape characteristics of interest (e.g., using LiDAR, etc.). Specific research questions will be determined jointly by the advisor and selected candidate. 

The project is funded by the Pennsylvania Game Commission (PGC) and UK and we will collaborate with PGC, UK, Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP), and University of Pittsburgh in addition to other collaborators.

Research advisor will be Dr. DJ McNeil (UK), co-advised with Dr. Jeff Larkin (IUP)

Required Qualifications:  

B.S. and M.S. in wildlife science, ecology, zoology, or closely related field. 

≥3.0 GPA

A strong work ethic, drive, and motivation to succeed 

Ability to conduct state-wide monitoring of hundreds of sites using ARUs

Strong verbal and written communication skills

Demonstrated ability to work independently and as a strong leader, overseeing the work of field technicians/assistants

Ability to work under adverse field conditions, often in remote areas

Strong working knowledge of R and comfortable with GIS software (e.g., qGIS, ArcGIS, etc.)

Preferred Qualifications: 

Experience with occupancy models

Background or interest in avian ecology, quantitative ecology, and Bayesian analyses

Experience driving a 4WD vehicles

Experience working and communicating with other biologists, landowners, and the public. 

Experience with autonomous recording units (ARUs)

Stipend/Salary: $26,000 + health care

Start Date: January 2025

Application Deadline: We will begin reviewing applications on 30 September 2024 and will continue until a candidate is selected.

To Apply: Please send: (1) a cover letter focused on the listed qualifications, as well as how the opportunity would help further career goals, (2) resume/cv – listing presentations and publications, (3) unofficial copies of transcripts, and (4) contact information for 3 references to Dr. D.J. McNeil (darin.j.mcneil@uky.edu). 

Contact

D.J. McNeil