https://explore.msujobs.
Unveiling the mechanisms used by invasive ants to adapt to current and future environmental conditions
We are looking for a highly motivated PhD student to participate in the project: “Unveiling the mechanisms used by invasive ants to adapt to current and future environmental conditions”. The project will be carried out at the Museum and Institute of Zoology, Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw (Poland) under the supervision of dr Magdalena Witek and dr Iago Sanmartín-Villar. The project is financed by the National Science Centre, which ensures a PhD student with a monthly tax-free research stipend of 5000 PLN for the first two years and 3654 PLN gross for the two last years funded by a Doctoral School fellowship.
I am looking for lab members with interest in the evolution, ecology, and behavior of symbiotic interactions in social insects. I believe that the most successful research projects are those in which there is an alignment of my interests and my student’s, but I also welcome applicants with ideas for projects that are more independent. Most importantly, students should feel a strong sense of ownership of their thesis projects and the intellectual and physical work involved in making them successful.
Students in my lab are supported through a combination of internal and external fellowships, personal grants and NSF funding. They are expected to actively seek funding and the scope of their thesis research may be influenced by their success. I currently hold two NSF grants that could potentially support thesis projects:
• Illumination of behavior leading to host exploitation by a context-dependent mutualist [link]
• Integrative Systematics: Taxonomy and Evolution of Megalomyrmex Ants and Their Venom [link]
I aim to provide students with a professional environment where they can thrive as researchers and tools and advice to support personal success. Applicants should have interest and experience in evolution, ecology, microbiology, chemical ecology, and/or behavioral ecology and be familiar with my research program (see https://megalomyrmex.osu.edu/). If you would like to join my research group, please send me a single pdf including 1) a letter of motivation (your interests, past experience, and why you want to work with me), 2) a CV, 3) an unofficial transcript, and 4) the names and addresses of two references. After we meet I may encourage you to apply to our program (link; fee waivers link).
**Transcripts are requested at this stage to determine OSU fellowship eligibility. I strongly believe that opportunities and access are not equally distributed and that this can be reflected in grades. Please do not let my request dissuade you from inquiring.
I am committed to diversifying STEM through the training of students and public outreach. Please read my diversity statement and learn about my lab at https://megalomyrmex.osu.edu/ .
All students who are accepted into the EEOB Graduate Program receive support for 3 (M.S.) or > 5 (Ph.D.) years by becoming a teaching or research assistant. No loans are necessary to complete a degree. More details on the EEOB Graduate Program can be obtained at our departmental website (https://eeob.osu.edu/grad/graduate-program). Corey Ash is our graduate student coordinator and can answer questions about graduate admissions. The EEOB application materials are due November 15th for programs to begin the following Autumn. By the time of admission, applicants must have earned a B.Sc. or B.A. from an accredited institution with a major in one of the life sciences.
Rachelle M. M. Adams, PhD
Assistant Professor
Department of Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology, Museum of Biological Diversity
MBD 1500, 1315 Kinnear Road, Columbus, OH 43212
614-292-6980 Office / 614-688-4222 Lab
Come join us at the USDA-ARS Honey Bee Breeding, Genetics, and Physiology Lab in Baton Rouge!
Dr. Kate Ihle will be hiring a technician at the USDA Honey bee lab in Baton Rouge. The position will be broadly related to beekeeping, honey bee breeding, and other areas of research matching the skills and interest of the successful candidate. We’re a fun and very collaborative group, and I’d love if you could pass this along to any potentially interested students, beekeepers, or acquaintances.
The full announcement can be found here: https://www.usajobs.gov/job/661755300
Please direct any questions to Kate.Ihle@usda.gov
An overview of the lab can be found here: https://www.ars.usda.gov/southeast-area/baton-rouge-la/honeybeelab/
Summary
This position is located within the USDA, Agricultural Research Service, Honey Bee Breeding, Genetics and Physiology Research Unit, in Baton Rouge, LA.
In this position, you will participate in the research process by performing a wide range of technical duties related to honey bee colony establishment and their maintenance. You will perform sample collection and data recording with respect to colony health and population metrics.
Duties
Assists with the testing and breeding for honey bee resistant traits and genetics.
Maintains, calibrates, and modifies equipment and automated systems used for test and evaluation procedures.
Collects, prepares, evaluates, and verifies bee samples and supporting records.
Maintains inventory of chemicals and safely disposes of waste material (both chemical and biological) in the lab.
Assists in one or more phases of the research process related to bees by performing a variety of technical duties in a field environment.
Assists other scientists and technicians with tasks in the laboratory such as: sample processing, insect dissection, be
Dear IUSSI-Members,
During the Congress this July, the North American Section will hold a special business meeting (12:15 – 1:15, July 4th, room TBD). The purpose of the meeting is to vote on a proposed amendment to our constitution, discuss two new NAS student awards that are being drafted for November, and to recognize the many NAS members who contributed to the international congress! The meeting will be brief and it will likely include refreshments.
Regarding the proposed constitutional amendment: An ad hoc committee consisting of 18 IUSSI-NAS members, led by Chelsea Cook, has developed a new DEIJ amendment based on previous discussions and a member-survey shared over a year ago. The amendment has been discussed, reviewed, and a majority of these participants and the Executive Committee have approved it. We hope that the rest of the constituency feels it is suitable to vote on after much hard work. Please read the attached amendment in preparation for the business meeting. Direct any questions about the DEIJ amendment to Chelsea Cook, cook.chelsean@gmail.com.
Proposed amendment:
The Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice (DEIJ) Committee exists to support diversity and inclusion within IUSSI NAS and within the scientific field and will develop a strategic plan to create a more inclusive society. The DEIJ Committee shall be responsible for identifying and ranking DEIJ goals as solicited from IUSSI NAS members at most once per calendar year and submitting the list to the Executive Committee for approval. After approval, IUSSI members vote on initiatives at a business meeting. The DEIJ then recruits volunteers for an ad hoc committee to address the initiative(s) the members voted on. After the initiative(s) has/have been enacted, a report and assessment will be prepared by the DEIJ committee for distribution to the society. The DEIJ Committee shall consist of three members serving staggered terms of three years, with a new member elected each year. The longest-serving member shall serve as chair of the committee during the third year of their term.
Our constitution: https://iussi.cyberbee.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/NAS-IUSSI_Constitution_Jan2021.pdf
All the best,
Christina Kwapich
President, IUSSI-NAS
Laboratory for Animal Social Evolution and Recognition at Cornell University is looking for a postdoc to develop projects related to understanding the neurobiology and/or evolution of social recognition in paper wasps. We have NIH and NSF funding to study both the neural basis of individual facial recognition in paper wasp as well as the evolution of extreme color pattern diversity that wasps use to signal their individual identity.
We are interested in postdocs that would like to develop projects in one of two areas dealing with the animal recognition abilities:
(1) Single-cell sequencing approaches to understand the cellular basis of recognition behavior. This work will build on on-going single-cell projects in the lab and has opportunities for comparing the brains of wasps after different experiences, in distinct behavioral states, reared under different social environments, and/or comparisons across species or populations.
(2) The genetic basis of color pattern diversity in paper wasps. This work will build on lab’s on-going work generating large population-genomic datasets of paper wasps and use these data to understand the evolutionary processes that have given rise to the high level of color pattern diversity within and among populations of paper wasps.
Individuals interested in learning more about the lab and potential research opportunities should reach out to Michael Sheehan (msheehan@cornell.edu) to discuss possible projects.
2022 Michener Award flyer.
2022 Nutting Award flyer.
2022 Tschinkel Award flyer.
2022 Jeanne Award flyer.
For additional information, please contact Dr. Floria Mora-Kepfer Uy (floria.uy@rochester.edu) or Dr. Rachelle Adams (adams.1970@osu.edu), Co-chairs of the IUSSI-NAS Awards Committee.
Purpose: The Tschinkel Fund was set up by Walter and Victoria Tschinkel to encourage graduate student research into basic natural history and biology of ants (in the broad sense), areas that have often been neglected. The thinking behind this grant program can be found in two essays: Tschinkel WR and Wilson EO (2014) Scientific natural history: telling the epics of nature, BioScience 64:438-443 [pdf]; and Tschinkel WR (2010) Back to basics: sociometry and sociogenesis of ant societies (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Myrmecological News 14:49-54 [pdf]. Applicants are encouraged to read these papers for guidance.
Nature: The recipient will receive 1) a research grant of up to $2,500 to be applied toward covering research expenses, and 2) a free membership to IUSSI-NAS in 2023. Please note that this grant is to be given to an individual researcher and no overhead will be allowed. The winner will be announced by May 15, 2022. Information on previous recipients can be found on the IUSSI-NAS website.
Eligibility: Any current graduate student who is a member of IUSSI-NAS conducting research on ant biology is eligible, so long as they have not yet completed their thesis work. Contact the Secretary (iussi.nas@gmail.com) or visit the website (http://iussi.cyberbee.net/membershipx/) for membership information.
Applications: Proposals are due April 30, 2022. Late or incomplete proposals will not be considered. Parts 1-9 of the application should be sent as a single PDF file, in the format described below, to Floria Mora-Kepfer Uy (floria.uy@rochester.edu), Co-chair of the IUSSI-NAS Awards Committee. Parts 1-5 combined must be no longer than four single spaced pages with a 12 pt font.
1) TITLE.
2) SIGNIFICANCE. Applicants should include the novel aspects of the proposed research, expected contribution(s) to the understanding of ant natural history (in the large sense), and relation to previous work. The significance statement should include a clearly stated goal, study species (or multiple species), and justification of research methods. Taxonomic or phylogenetic projects are discouraged. Favored projects will be those that consider ants in their social modality, with colonies as functional/developing entities. Emphasis should be a “skin out” approach, including behavior. Questions that focus on metabolic/molecular levels will be considered only if the goal is the elucidation of some aspect of ant natural history. Projects may ask questions such as: What do the ants do? Where and how do they do it? Why do they
do it? What are consequences for the life history, ecology or evolution? Experimental projects are encouraged, but observational projects will also be considered.
3) RESEARCH PLAN. Include the particular species to be studied, methods, analyses, and logistics. The project may be the main dissertation topic or it may be ancillary or supplementary to it.
4) FEASIBILITY. Provide sufficient information to demonstrate the project’s feasibility. Provide a timetable that outlines how the necessary work is aligned with the budget size and a clear path to publication.
5) AWARD IMPACT. Provide a brief statement expressing what, if any, challenges the applicant has faced in conducting research thus far (e.g., limited funding, conflicting family obligations, being of an underrepresented group in science, COVID19-related slowdowns). Explain the anticipated positive impacts this award would have on the applicant’s research and career.
6) CITATIONS. Provide these in the format used by the Entomological Society of America.
7) BUDGET. Include projected costs and justification of items where appropriate. State any other supporting funds that will be used (this can impact feasibility). If currently funded by other grants or other means (including awards or start-up funds of graduate adviser), explain how the proposed work is connected or independent. Travel expenses are allowed but must be detailed.
8) CURRICULUM VITAE. Include present position and start and finish dates. The CV will only be used to determine if students have enough time to complete the proposed project. The merit of past achievements and other activities will not be evaluated.
9) LETTER OF SUPPORT. This is to be written by the applicant’s advisor. Note: This is not a traditional letter of recommendation.
Please address the following:
– Is there adequate support and basic resources to complete the proposed project?
– What is the level of independence of the proposed project from your research program?
– Is this student making appropriate progress on their degree and in good academic standing?
Report: A condition of the grant is that the recipient provides a report on the results of their research. Ideally, this will be a 10-minute oral report at the next annual meeting of the IUSSI-NAS. If the recipient is not able to attend this meeting, a 1-page written report must be submitted for publication in the society newsletter.
Please contact Dr. Floria Mora-Kepfer Uy (floria.uy@rochester.edu) or Dr. Rachelle Adams (adams.1970@osu.edu), Co-chairs of the Awards Committee with any questions.
Professor May Berenbaum (https://sib.illinois.edu/profile/maybe) at the University of Illinois is looking for a post-doc in bee genomics and metagenomics.
Review of applications will begin on immediately and continue until the position is filled.
https://www.igb.illinois.edu/sites/default/files/uploads/Postdoctoral%20position%20in%20bee%20genomics%20and%20metagenomics_0.pdf