Postdoc position:Study of inter-individual variation and thermal adaptation traits in parasitic micro-wasps usingcomputer-vision approachesInstitut Sophia Agrobiotech, Sophia Antipolis, France- Supervisor (name, affiliation, email): Vincent Calcagno, INRAE, Institut Sophia Agrobiotech,vincent.calcagno@inrae.fr- Laboratory and/or research groupInstitut Sophia Agrobiotech (INRAE, CNRS, Université Côte d’Azur) is a leading research unit inbiocontrol, and specifically on the use of insects as eco-friendly substitutes of chemicalinsecticides. It hosts a Biological resource Center dedicated to the rearing and study of more than100 strains of Trichogramma micro-wasps, one of the most used macroorganisms for cropprotection (aka “intelligent dust” for their minute size; see here). We are interested in thebehavior, ecology and evolution of these insects and how they determine their efficiency whenmass-released in fields. In the context of ANR project BIDIME (2020-2023) we are specificallyinterested in the variation of Trichogramma species, populations and individuals with respect tothermal adaptation, e.g. cold/heat tolerance.Our group is developing video-tracking and computer methods vision to automatically acquire andanalyze large amounts of data on the movements and behaviors of groups of insects in the lab,and our unit is setting-up a dedicated experimental platform. This allows to study inter-individual,inter-population and inter-specific variation with high resolution, in order to assist strain selectionor amelioration.- Project descriptionThe postdoc will be in charge of analyzing experimental data (video recordings), currently beinggenerated in our lab by another postdoc with whom he/she will collaborate. The dataset describesthe movements and micro-movements of groups of insects from about 30 geographicallycontrasted populations in two species, when subjected to steady decreases/increases intemperature between chilling point and room temperature. Analyses will seek to evaluate thevariability in thermal biology and movement-related traits at several scales, and test for theexistence of adaptive trade-offs among these traits.To address these questions the postdoc will (i) apply/extend existing methods we have developedin the past years to this original dataset, and (ii) develop new methods involving deep-learningalgorithms to improve the automatic classification of behavioral patterns and inter-individualdifferences. The first objective will involve developing methods, applying them, analyzing,interpreting and communicating the results (including as software packages/methods papers). Thesecond objective will be conducted in collaboration with the SAM Inria center, located nearby inSophia Antipolis, specialized in computer-vision and machine-learning algorithms for humanbehavior and classification. In the context of the UCA-funded project MASCOT, we seek toimplement these methods to our questions in insect ecology, and the postdoc will also contributeto these developments.
- Candidate profile●PhD in Biology/Ecology/Biostatistics●Experience in behavioral/movement ecology and, ideally, image/video analysis methods●Skills and interest in programming: R, Java and/or Python.●Strong background in statistics●Good communication and article preparation skills (English)●Taste for team-working and interdisciplinary work- FundingThe position is funded by ANR (project BIDIME) for 12 months.Start date: from March 1st 2021.> How to applySend a statement of research interests (<1 page), a detailed CV, and the contact of two scientificreferences to Vincent Calcagno. Applications will be reviewed, and select candidates interviewed,until the position is filled