PhD Scholarship Announcement

Arctic lakes- biogeochemistry and paleoecology of lake sediment cores for understanding carbon cycling and greenhouse gas production in thermokarst lakes in Siberia and Alaska

University of Alaska, Fairbanks
Water and Environmental Research Center

Advisors: Asst. Professor Katey Walter and Professor Mary Edwards

Application Deadline: Wednesday, May 25, 2008

For further information, please go to: http://www.alaska.edu/uaf/cem/ine/walter/

Or contact:

Dr. Katey Walter
Phone: (907) 474-6095
Email: ftkmw1@uaf.edu

Dr. Mary Edwards
Phone: (44)(0)23 8059 2217
Email: M.E.Edwards@soton.ac.uk

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Applications are invited for a PhD scholarship in biogeochemical and paleoecological analysis of sediment cores from thermokarst lakes in Alaska and Siberia. The funding, provided by the National Science Foundation, is available for three years and is related to activities within a new multi-disciplinary research project: “IPY: Understanding the Impacts of Icy Permafrost Degradation and Thermokarst-Lake Dynamics in the Arctic on Carbon Cycling, CO2 and CH4 emissions, and Feedbacks to Climate Change.”

The successful candidate will be employed by the Water and Environmental Research Center at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks.

Thermokarst (thaw) lakes dominate large areas of the Arctic land surface and may expand as permafrost continues to warm and thaw. The successful candidate will join a team exploring a new frontier in polar science: the relation of thermokarst lakes to global climate change. We will i) develop a quantitative model of CO2 and CH4 emissions from thermokarst lakes in Alaska and Siberia from the Last Glacial Maximum to the present and ii) estimate CO2 and CH4 emissions from thermokarst lakes during the next 100-200 years — a potential positive feedback to climate change. The team will use process-based ecological and trace-gas flux measurements, geophysical field measurements, remote-sensing based observations, paleoenvironmental analyses of permafrost and lake cores, and laboratory incubations of thawed permafrost soils and lake sediments.

The goal of the studentship is to use paleo-techniques and carbon-cycling studies along with geophysical approaches to understand the structure, function and evolution of thermokarst lakes. The successful applicant will focus on collection and analysis of sediment cores from lakes and drained lake basins in Alaska and Siberia to characterize their organic carbon contents, sediment stratigraphy and the mineralization potentials of organic matter through laboratory incubations. Collection of cores will occur as a team effort for extant lake cores during spring field expeditions and during summer for drained lake basins. The research student will be responsible for applying conventional and innovative analytic techniques, including description of lake and basin characteristics, characterization of sediment-core lithology, stratigraphy, and geochemistry, and for characterizing sedimentary evidence of rapid thermokarst events and lake formation. In addition, the she/he will carry out laboratory incubations to determine the CH4 and CO2 production potentials of thawed materials in collaboration with Dr. Peter Frenzel at the Max Planck Institute for Microbiology in Marburg, Germany. Travel support for the PhD candidate to work several weeks in Germany is provided by the fellowship, as is travel support for core processing at the LacCore Facility at the University of Minnesota (http://lrc.geo.umn.edu/LacCore/laccore.html), field expeditions in Alaska, Siberia and to a professional conference.

Candidates must hold a Master's degree in science (limnology, geology, biogeochemistry, chemistry, or ecology), have a strong background in research, laboratory analyses, and intensive field work, with an interest in climate, lakes, biogeochemistry. Applicants must have good written and verbal communication skills. An understanding of stable isotopes is an advantage.

Applicants are requested to submit an application in English that includes (1) a short description of qualifications, (2) a two-page research proposal related to the PhD topic described above, (3) curriculum vita that provides relevant academic, employment, and personal details, (4) authorized transcripts of course work and authorized copies of diplomas of university degrees, all translated into English, (5) list of references, (6) three letters of support from previous employers or supervisors, and (7) authorized evidence of English language competence.

A committee will evaluate the applications and selected applicants will be invited for interviews. The successful candidate is requested to apply for enrollment as a PhD student at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks. Unless invited, applicants need not apply to the University. The PhD study is expected to start as soon as possible.

The application marked "YourLastName.April2008" should be sent no later than
May, 25 2008 via email to:

Katey Walter (ftkmw1@uaf.edu), and copied to Mary Edwards (M.E.Edwards@soton.ac.uk)

Details about ongoing projects and laboratories of Katey Walter and Mary Edwards are available at:

Walter: http://www.alaska.edu/uaf/cem/ine/walter/

Edwards: http://www.wun.ac.uk/view.php?id=478

For further information about employment at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, please contact Leanne Isaacson, the WERC HR Coordinator.
Email: fnlli@uaf.edu
Phone: 907-474-7777
Fax: 907-474-7041