MSc opportunity

MSc opportunity available for CRADLES: Conservation and Restoration of Aquatic Diversity in the face of Legacy and Emerging Stressors

In response to the United Nations call to action to restore the productive capacity of degraded ecosystems and to help halt continued global biodiversity losses, we have initiated a collaborative, multi-institutional research network aimed at developing novel, holistic approaches for biodiversity assessment in freshwater systems and their surrounding catchments. These will be used to establish restoration targets, evaluate the benefits of pollution control, and help inform the creation of networks of protected areas.

We are currently seeking a MSc domestic student (i.e. Canadian citizen or permanent resident) to join a cohort of newly recruited HQP. The project will focus on developing and testing novel stream biomonitoring methods incorporating eDNA to assay community membership from microbes to fish. These rapid bioassessment techniques will be tested against traditional approaches in their ability to produce functional, community and multi-trophic indicators of ecosystem integrity and biodiversity along a gradient of impact recovery. These findings will also be contextualized by collaborator’s reconstruction of past communities to inform recovery targets. Because of the collaborative and immersive nature of the work in both the field and lab, this is an in-person graduate position.

The student will be hosted at Laurentian University (Dr. Brie Edwards) and co-supervised by Dr. Erik Emilson (Natural Resources Canada). The advisory committee for the project will also include PIs from more than a single institution, and will reflect the collaborative, team-based approach to the research, both in lab and field environments. Additional project collaborators are located at Queen's, Laurier, Ontario Tech and Acadia universities, and in MNR and MECP.

Field work will begin in Spring of 2025 and will be conducted in the Sudbury area. As such we are recruiting a student interested in starting May 2025. Ideal candidates will have a strong background in aquatic ecology and an interest in benthic bioindicators, molecular techniques, and population and community responses to environmental change. Quantitative skills in statistical analysis are desired but can be provided through training programs at the respective institutions.