should have finished or anticipate finishing an MSc or similar before April 2025 in a relevant field of biology, ecology, or environmental science and a strong interest in evolutionary ecology, biodiversity and/or aquatic ecology. Excellent communication and writing skills in English and ability to work in a team are essential.
Migration is one of nature’s most spectacular forms of animal movement and has a long and illuminating scientific history, with exciting new discoveries year after year. The billions of animals migrating every year around the globe are all occupying some place in the food web, which they are leaving once they migrate. This has consequences for ecosystems, but understanding such consequences requires a thorough insight into the interaction between environmental variation, ecosystem structure, trophic ecology and migratory patterns, where the latter is influenced both by evolution and the ambient environment. Despite the many phenomenological discoveries in migration biology, such insights are rare. This is unfortunate, since we currently experience a global biodiversity crisis and a migratory crisis, where migratory species are at higher risk than resident species and where ongoing climate change may change alternative resident- and migratory habitats to different degrees, which may disrupt population-level phenotypic matching between resident and migratory environments.
We urgently need an integrated approach, combining multiple scientific disciplines to gain a more profound understanding of the biocomplexity of migration and its evolution in a changing climate. To enable strong empirical research on such environmental-, ecological- and evolutionary aspects of animal migration, replicate study systems are needed. This is for many of the classical migration study systems unfortunately not the case. However, migrations of salmonid fish between freshwater- and ocean environments in the Arctic offer ideal study systems with replication on individual-, on population- and on entire ecosystem level.
In this project, we will study how glaciers differentially affect fjord environments and how this in turn affects the ecology, movement patterns and local distinctiveness of multiple communities of anadromous Arctic charr along a local- and latitudinal climate gradient in Greenland. More specifically, we will study how presence versus absence of glacial input and type of glacial input, i.e. input from land-terminating glaciers versus fjord-terminating glaciers, affect the abiotic and biotic environment of fjords, how this affects the foraging and phenotypic divergence of migratory populations and finally, which consequences this has for charr speciation as well as lake ecosystem structure.
These studies are facilitated not only by a unique study system, but also by existing field equipment, laboratory facilities and an excellent research environment at Eawag and by our long experience in the research field, including a decade on research in Greenland with more than 13’000 Arctic charr sampled across rivers, lakes and fjords in the region.
The main workplace is Eawag’s Center for Ecology, Evolution and Biogeochemistry (CEEB) in Kastanienbaum, Lucerne, which besides the Fish Ecology and Evolution Department hosts research groups from the Department Surface Waters – Research & Management and offers a beautiful workplace at the shores of Lake Lucerne, a friendly international working climate and a strong cross-disciplinary research environment. Both departments within CEEB share a common interest in understanding the principles of the functioning of aquatic ecosystems and their susceptibility and adaptability to changing environments, and a common concern for sustainable management of ecosystems and biodiversity. Each department on its own aims at contributing cutting-edge science to the development of theory in ecology, evolution and environmental sciences. Building on the synergies that emerge between these fields, the CEEB aspires to contribute to a future synthesis of evolutionary biology and ecosystem science.
Eawag is a modern employer and offers an excellent working environment where staff can contribute their strengths, experience and ways of thinking. We promote gender equality and are committed to staff diversity and inclusion. The compatibility of career and family is of central importance to us. For more information about Eawag and our work conditions please consult
www.eawag.ch and
www.eawag.ch/en/aboutus/working/employment.
Applications must be submitted by November 3rd 2024 and should include an application letter describing your interests and their relevance to this position, a CV, and the names and contact information for two references. The position should optimally start on January 1st 2024 or soon thereafter.
We look forward to receiving your application through this webpage, any other way of applying will not be considered. Please click on the button below, this will take you directly to the application form.