Postdoctoral and Graduate project opportunities

Our REWRITE partner is seeking a postdoctoral fellow and a graduate student (MSc) for a collaborative research program (funded by Net Zero Atlantic, MITACS, and Horizon Europe) on carbon sequestration potential of mudflats in the Bay of Fundy. Mudflats are biologically productive, can be extensive, and accrete with sea level rise, and so bury much carbon.

The program focuses on New Brunswick but will collaborate with a team of European researchers.

Topics to be studied include:

• Quantification of buried carbon in mudflats: Multiple mudflats will be sampled using 1-m long sediment cores (representing decades to centuries of burial) to assess and quantify profiles for buried organic carbon components. This component sets the context for the rest of the project below.
• Satellite remote sensing of primary producers (microalgal biomass) in mudflats: Methods using Sentinel-2 imagery, ground-truthed with field sampling, will be developed to map microalgal biomass (the main driver of CO2 uptake) on mudflats.
• CO2 exchange with the mudflat surface, and mapping gross primary production on mudflats: Eddy-covariance technology will be used to monitor gas fluxes on mudflat footprtints, and methods will be developed to determine the relationship between CO2 gas exchange and microalgal biomass. These results will ultimately be used to map gross primary production (i.e., CO2 uptake) at the scale of mudflats
• Detailed study of gas exchange at the mudflat-air interface, photophysiology, and identification of microbial taxa involved in carbon dynamics: Focused studies will be conducted to understand and properly model relationships among the microalgal biofilm biomass, its detection, and the uptake in CO2, as well as to start to identify potential relationships with other carbon dynamics, such as storage in mudflat sediments.

Co-principal investigators: Drs. Myriam Barbeau & Adrian Reyes-Prieto (UNB), Diana Hamilton, Jeff Ollerhead & Doug Campbell (MTA), Graham Clark (StFX), Vona Méléder and Bruno Jesus (University of Nantes), Koen Sabbe (Ghent University), Amanda Loder (ECCC), and Nic McLellan (DUC).

Postdoctoral position:
They are seeking a postdoctoral fellow with expertise and interest in the above-described research. The individual hired for this position will oversee the research conducted in New Brunswick, and we anticipate that they will select one or two of the focused studies for their personal research. We are also open to additional related topics if applicants have ideas that will complement the overall project. This is a minimum 18-month position, and salary will be $55,000 plus benefits (including health, dental, and annual vacation). The position could be based at either University of New Brunswick (Fredericton, NB campus) or Mount Allison University (Sackville, NB).

MSc position:
The MSc student will be based at St. Francis Xavier University (Antigonish, NS) in a 2-year full-time Master’s of Earth Sciences under the supervision of Dr. Graham Clark. The candidate will be conducting field work measuring CO2 fluxes with eddy covariance technology in the Bay of Fundy mudflats and conducting data analyses. This is a fully funded MSc position.

Application process: This program will start on 1 April 2024. Applications will be considered ASAP until suitable candidates are found (though we have a deadline of 31 January 2024). If interested, please apply ASAP.

For the postdoc position, please provide a cover letter describing your background, interests, and qualifications for the position, a resumé, and names and contact information for referees to:
Dr. Myriam Barbeau
Dept. of Biology, University of New Brunswick
PO Box 4400, Fredericton, N.B., E3B 5A3, Canada. Email: mbarbeau@unb.ca

Dr. Diana Hamilton
Dept. of Biology, Mount Allison University
63B York St. Sackville, N.B., E4L 1G7, Canada. Email: dhamilto@mta.ca

For the MSc position, please provide a cover letter describing your academic background and interests, and a statement of why you want to attend graduate school, together with a copy of your transcripts (it can be an unofficial copy), and names and contact information for referees. to:

Dr. M. Graham Clark Department of Earth Sciences, St. Francis Xavier University, 5009 Chapel Square, Antigonish NS, B2G 2W5, Canada Email: gclark@stfx.ca

We recognize and respectfully acknowledge that all UNB interactions take place on traditional Wolastoqey territory. The river that runs right by our university - the St. John River - is also known as Wolastoq, along which settled the Wolastoqiyik - the people of the beautiful and bountiful river.

Mount Allison University acknowledges, honours, and respects that the land named Sackville, NB is part of the unceded territory of the Mi’kmaq People who are the historic inhabitants, custodians, and dwellers on the land where our University is built and confirms its commitment to strengthening relationships with all Indigenous people.

St. Francis Xavier University is located in Mi’kma’ki, the ancestral and unceded territory of the Mi’kmaq People.

UNB, Mount Allison, and StFX are all committed to diversity and inclusiveness. We encourage applications from members of racialized communities, Indigenous persons, persons with disabilities, and persons of all sexual and gender identities.

For more information, contact: https://mta.ca/