Physiological flexibility as an evolved trait to adapt to changing environments
Position available immediately
6 months trial period
plus two additional years of funding.
Key words: respirometry; animal handling; blood sampling; AVP; hormone assays; physiological adaptation; social flexibility; ecology and evolution
I am looking for a PhD candidate to study physiological flexibility as an evolved trait. Changes in physiology enable adaptation to changing environments (physiological adaptation) and regulate behavioral adaptation. The main aim of our research group is to understand the evolved physiological mechanisms that allow animals to behave adaptively in a changing environment. (See full project summary at end of email).
The student will be supervised by Dr. Carsten Schradin and be part of the research group studying African striped mice (Rhabdomys pumilio; see www.stripedmouse.com and www.ieu.uzh.ch/research/behaviour/endocrinology.html).
I am seeking a highly-motivated, independent candidate with excellent organizational skills. Strong intellectual skills are desired. Technical skills are mandatory to run the respirometry field laboratory.
The ideal candidate has a background in eco-physiology, behavioral endocrinology or behavioral ecology. Of advantage is experience with animal handling, with respirometry, with hormone analyses, in experimental design and statistical analysis of data. The working language in my group is English.
The student will be based at the Department of Animal Behavior, Institute of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies at the University of Zurich. In Zurich the PhD student has to work in the hormone laboratory, visit courses (12 ECS) and give lectures to fulfill the conditions of the PhD program in evolutionary biology: http://www.evobio.uzh.ch/index.html. Zurich is a highly attractive city in beautiful surroundings, with a multinational population, and many educational and recreational opportunities (http://www.zuerich.com).
Data will be collected in the field in South Africa, where the PhD student has to spend two field seasons of approx. 9 months each. In the field, the candidate has to run independently the respirometry laboratory and conduct field experiments with the help of field assistants.
The first 6 months will be a trial period during which time the student has to visit courses in Zurich and develop a research proposal. After the trial period the position can be extended for another 2 years. This will depend on 1. the quality of the student, and 2. which position the supervisor (Dr. Schradin) will have in 2013.
The salary follows the Swiss National Science Foundation scale and is very competitive, especially for somebody spending significant time in South Africa (CHF 41 000 for the first year, CH 44 400 for the second year; this is 34 000 Euro during the first and 37 000 Euro during the second year). The student is expected to apply for funding for an additional year, for example from the Forschungskredit in Zurich (http://www.researchers.uzh.ch/promotion/forschungskredit_en.html).
The position can be filled immediately.
Deadline for application is the 20th of February, and interviews will take place in March.
Please send your application by email and as PDF to carsten.schradin@ieu.uzh.ch.
Your application should include:
· a letter outlining your past research and particular motivation for this position, information on when you could start and contact details of two referees (max. 2 pages)
· your CV
· PDFs of publications (published, in press or in preparation)
· PDF of your master thesis (if not published yet)
__________________________________________________________
PD Dr. Carsten Schradin
Group Leader Behavioral Endocrinology and Eco-Physiology
Institute of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies
Department of Animal Behavior
University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland.
Tel: +41 - (0)44 635 5486
Tel. secretary: +41 - (0)44 635 5271
Fax: +41 - (0)44 635 5490
Honorary Associate Professor
School of Animal, Plant and Environmental Sciences
University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
Head
Succulent Karoo Research Station, Goegap Nature Reserve, Private Bag X1, 8240 Springbok, South Africa
http://www.stripedmouse
http://www.ieu.uzh.ch/research/behaviour/endocrinology.html
Summary of the entire project, into which the PhD project will be incorporated.
The proposed project will study how evolved endocrine mechanisms allow animals to behave adaptively in their changing natural environment. The focus will be on physiological mechanisms regulating metabolism (corticosterone), osmoregulation (arginine vasopressin), and reproduction (testosterone). We will study physiological adaptation to droughts, individual differences in physiological traits leading to fitness consequences, and heritability of physiological traits.
Our study species, the striped mouse (Rhabdomys pumilio) from South Africa, is a non-desert specialist living in an arid environment with pronounced differences in the annual seasons. Each generation lives for only one year, and striped mice reproduce in the breeding season following the season of their own birth. Most mortality occurs during the long dry season (December-April), when food and water are restricted resources, determining who will survive until the next breeding season (September-November). However, between years there is huge variation in the amount of rainfall and thus food availability during the dry season. For my study species, this means some generations experience a very resource restricted dry season, while other generations don't. Over the last ten years, we studied behavioral flexibility of striped mice as a way to adapt to their changing environment. Now we want to study physiological flexibility as an evolved trait that regulates both social flexibility as well as important physiological processes such as metabolism, osmoregulation and reproduction.
From free living individuals, we will measure blood hormone and blood sugar levels, resting metabolic rate and daily energy expenditure. Data on hormone levels will be available for 10 generations (the years 2006 – 2015) with pronounced variation in water and energy (food) availability during the dry season. We will correlate physiological measurements with food and water availability and with social behavior. Experimentally, we will provide water and food during the dry season to test for an influence on metabolism, osmoregulation, social behavior and survival.
Second, we will test the hypothesis that high levels of metabolic hormones lead to fitness benefits in years with high food availability during the dry season (due to significant prior rainfall) but to reduced survival in years when food availability is significantly lower during the dry seasons. Such observations may explain the maintenance of genetic variation within the population. We will increase corticosterone levels experimentally during the dry season to rainy season levels. We predict increased resting metabolic rate and reduced fitness in test individuals compared to untreated controls and individuals with corticosterone implants that are also food supplemented.
Third, by combining physiological data with a pedigree of more than 1000 individuals, we will calculate heritability for physiological traits using the statistical animal model. This statistical model allows the inclusion of important ecological parameters (season, precipitation, overall food availability) as well as individual specific parameters (social class, food availability in the natal territory, and time of birth). This will enable us to understand the extent to which the high variance in physiological traits between individuals is due to genetic or environmental differences.
The proposed project will integrate studies on behavior, ecology and physiology, combining both ultimate and proximate research to understand individual variation in physiological adaptation. Droughts are predicted to become more frequent and more severe in the future as a consequence of global warming. Thus, we will also gain information on how climate change influences natural population and how natural populations react to climate change.