I am looking for a student to explore links between individual growth, mass changes, foraging behavior and multi-year reproductive success of female eastern grey kangaroos, and how these links are affected by environmental conditions, offspring sex, previous reproduction and female size and age. Kangaroos have indeterminate growth, therefore face a trade-off between growth and reproduction throughout life. Foraging strategies vary among individuals and are affected by reproductive effort, causing variation in mass gain and subsequent reproductive success. Population density, vegetation productivity and weather vary substantially from year to year, leading to considerable and unpredictable changes in resource availability. This research will involve 3-4 months of fieldwork in Victoria, Australia for 2-3 years, to be added to the existing 8 years of monitoring. The database will include over 1000 kangaroos, yearly recaptures for 90% of marked females and about 1200 female-years of data on reproductive success for 250 females. Candidates should have a strong interest in evolutionary ecology, knowledge of the behavioral ecology literature, statistical skills and an ability to work long hours in the field, with limited personal space. A strong attitude for teamwork is essential. The program can start in September 2016 or January 2017. An internal scholarship of C$ 19,000 per year for 4 years is available. Although the research is fully funded, external scholarship holders will be preferred.
If you are interested, please e-mail me a CV, a letter explaining why you want to do this research and the e-mails of 2 people able to assess your potential as a researcher.
Marco Festa-Bianchet
m.festa@Usherbrooke.ca
http://marco.recherche.usherbrooke.ca/marco.htm