Postdoc in Aquatic Ecology
Postdoc in Aquatic Ecology
SLU - Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Stockholm, Sweden
We are hiring a postdoc for a research project assessing habitat choice and habitat availability of the European eel in Swedish waters, both historically and in present time. The aim of the project is to increase our knowledge regarding the amount of eels that reside and grow on the coast and/or in freshwater systems in Sweden, and whether this has changed over the last 100 years. The project is called FREEL (Freshwater Eel), funded by the Swedish Centre for Sustainable Hydropower (SVC) and SLU.
The European eel has traditionally been considered a catadromous fish that is born at sea, grow large in freshwater and then returns to the sea to spawn. Over the past 20 years, however, several studies have shown that eels can grow in fully marine waters, and that they can switch between freshwater, coastal, and marine habitats during their growth period (the life stage known as yellow eel). Sweden has a long coastline with a salinity gradient from nearly full marine in the northern parts of the west coast to nearly freshwater in the northern Baltic Sea. Along the entire coast of Sweden there are also estuaries, and stream and river outlets, why eel arriving to Swedish waters can utilize a range of habitats with different salinities. This provides a unique opportunity to study the habitat choice of eel with respect to salinity, which is the focus of this position.
As a postdoc in the research project FREEL, you will:
- Analyze data from micro-chemical analyses of otoliths from nearly 4000 eels to assess habitat choice in Swedish waters in present time;
- Collect, prepare and analyze the chemical composition of otoliths from eels caught before the 1920s (before the major expansion of hydropower in Sweden), in order to assess historical habitat choice of eel;
- Prepare and analyze otoliths from the 1960s–1980s, which is the defined reference period for eel management in Europe;
- Further develop existing habitat models for yellow eel along Sweden's coast and inland for three time periods (early 1900s, during 1960s–1980s, and present) by combining open GIS data with data from the Swedish eel monitoring program;
- Compare the amount of available habitat with observed habitat choices of eel in Swedish waters historically and in present time.
Collaborations and research networks:
The accepted postdoc will be based at the Institute of Freshwater Research, Drottningholm (Stockholm). Several tasks will also be carried out at the Institute of Coastal Research in Öregrund. Supervisors are Philip Jacobson, Josefin Sundin and Yvette Heimbrand. The Institute of Freshwater Research offers a stimulating work environment with a special research group on diadromous fish species which the postdoc will be part of. The postdoc will also collaborate with researchers with expertise in habitat modelling as well as museum curators and an industry group with representatives from the hydropower industry. The postdoc is expected to produce and publish scientific articles, as well as present results at national and international workshops and conferences. This position therefore offers great opportunities to establish a broad network of contacts within both academia, with several stakeholders such as the Swedish Agency for Marine and Water Management, and with the hydropower industry.
The position is intended for a junior researcher and we are mainly looking for candidates who have completed their doctoral degree no more than three years ago.
Requirements:
- Ability to work both independently and in groups;
- Documented experience of publishing in international scientific journals;
- Very good knowledge of working with the software R and large datasets;
- Good English oral and writing skills.
Desirable skills:
- Experience in analyzing data from otolith chemical analyses and preparation of otoliths;
- Experience of working with GIS and spatial habitat modelling;
- Experience of working with other actors outside academia.
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