New positions
A Funded PhD Opportunity on the project 'Historical Changes in Microalgal Communities in Coastal Aotearoa' at Lincoln University, Aotearoa–New Zealand.
Applicants must meet the Lincoln University entry requirements.
We're looking for a motivated PhD student to join a multi-institutional team investigating historical changes in marine microalgal communities in coastal Aotearoa–New Zealand. This exciting project uses sediment cores, eDNA and palaeoecological tools to uncover how human impacts and environmental change have shaped our coastal ecosystems over time. You'll work with researchers from Lincoln University, Cawthron Institute, and GNS Science, alongside international experts and in partnership with hapori Māori.
Supervisors: Prof. Susie Wood, Assoc. Dr Kyle Bland (GNS Science), Dr Kirsty Smith (Cawthron)
More info & to apply here.
A Master’s thesis scholarship – Microbial genetics in lakes.
Applicants must meet the Lincoln University entry requirements.
This scholarship is only available to New Zealand citizens or residents. We’re offering a funded Master’s project investigating microbial metagenomes from over 150 lakes across Aotearoa–New Zealand. This project is part of the MBIE-funded Smart Idea initiative: 'Applying a functional evidence approach to prioritise lake restoration initiatives'. You'll explore how microbial functions (e.g. carbon fixation, antimicrobial resistance) vary with environmental conditions.
- Stipend: $15,000 + tuition fees
- Supervision: Prof. Susie Wood (Lincoln Uni) & Dr John Pearman (Cawthron Institute)
- Start: early 2026
- Ideal background: eDNA analysis, R coding skills
Apply by emailing Susie.wood@lincoln.ac.nz with your CV, academic transcript, motivation letter, and two referee contacts.
A PhD position (funded for four years) in palaeoenvironmental archaeology and sedaDNA at Tromsø Museum (UiT The Arctic University of Norway).
This PhD project is attached to the Norwegian Research Council and UiT-funded ‘Viking to Christian Landscapes across the Norwegian Sea (V2C)’ project (PI Tony Brown). The successful candidate will join a team coring lakes and mires in Central and Northern Norway, Orkney and Shetland Isles, UK and undertake metabarcoding and lithological analyses of lake-sediment cores to obtain information on past vascular plant species including crops, and herbivores in a region at the edge of agriculture in Europe. These data, together with similar data from southern Norway will be used together with the V2C team (UiT, University of Bergen, University of Durham UK, Highlands and Islands University UK) to:
- Investigate landscape change, crop use and farming from c. 500–1500 CE
- Examine the causes of these changes and relate to archaeological and textual data
- Trial new techniques in environmental archaeology from cores including pOSL and pathogens
As a stand-alone element in V2C the PhD fellow will have considerable choice over their programme and specialisms within the sedaDNA and related research fields. The successful candidate will also be working alongside another project (MEMELAND) which is applying sedaDNA at a Europe-wide scale. The research outcomes will contribute to resilience and transformation in the high latitudes and Arctic and will thus operationalise Sustainable Development Goals.
Application deadline is the 30th of May 2025. The V2C and MEMELAND projects are part of the Arctic Ecosystem Genomics (ArcEcoGen) Aurora Research Centre at Tromsø Museum, within the UiT The Arctic University of Norway (Tromsø). For more information, please contact Prof. Antony Brown or Stephen Wickler.
A PhD position (funded for 3.5 years) in palaeoenvironmental archaeology and sedaDNA at the University of Southampton.
This PhD project is a part of the ‘The Ancient Ports of Europe: A Novel Genetic Window on Ancient Lives (PortGEN)’ project (PI Tony Brown). The ancient ports of Europe provide a unique window into the lives and economic activities of past civilisations, potentially world-wide. Ports are the life-blood of complex societies and can reveal how society adapted to changing environmental conditions from disease to floods. So far the ‘past of ports’ has been explored using archaeology, texts, plant/animal remains, and geochemistry – but the molecular/genetic potential is immense (Brown et al. 2024). Since the discovery that extra-cellular ancient DNA can be preserved in sediments 20 years ago (Willerslev et al. 2003) it has been used in lakes, estuaries, floodplains and soils (Capo et al. 2021; Brown et al. 2022; Hudson et al 2022; Subm.). This implies that the sedimentary traps of ancient ports are an untapped source of invaluable archaeological information as ports are the ultimate transport nodes recording imports, exports, industrial activities as well as the lives of the local inhabitants. Whereas long-established methods (geochemistry, pollen, plant remains) can reveal valuable information (Véron et al. 2018; Goiran et al. 2015; Salomon et al. 2016) we believe that this is the tip of the iceberg with molecular methods able to provide far deeper and more comprehensive data on the full ‘port-ecosystem’ ranging from plant and animal products to raw materials and diseases. Through our collaborators we have material already promised from a number high-profile sites including Rome (Ostia Antica, Portus), Spina, Venice, Ephesus, Corinth and the Levant.
Application deadline is the 29th of June 2025. For more information, please contact Prof. Antony Brown.
A PhD position on the Genomics of Southern Ocean carbon pump at the University of Tasmania (UTAS), in collaboration with Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO).
The carbon fixed from atmospheric CO2 by phytoplankton in the sunlit parts of the ocean is exported to depth, sequestering it for decades to millennia via a process called the biological carbon pump. However, most of this organic matter is remineralized by bacteria colonizing the sinking particles. By the time particles reach a depth of 1000m ≤5% of the organic carbon remains. The Southern Ocean is an important component of the ocean's biological pump and the subantarctic zone (SAZ) is of particular interest due to its deep winter mixing and Subantarctic Mode Water formation, which supply oxygen and nutrients to the subsurface Southern Hemisphere (Rintoul and Trull 2001, Helm et al. 2011). In this region sediment traps that collect sinking particles have been deployed since 1997 (Wynn-Edwards et al. 2020), providing a direct way to determine what makes up the biological pump. This project will use genetic analysis of sediment trap material to shed light on the microbial taxa – zooplankton, phytoplankton, and bacteria –that contribute to particle flux and remineralization (Liu et al. 2020, Cardozo-Mino et al. 2023). Determining who contributes most to these carbon pathways is fundamental to predicting change. Microbes identified genetically from sediment trap samples will be compared to those identified microscopically from surface samples, to determine whether numerically dominant but small species or rare but large species contribute most to carbon export. The sediment trap sampling resolution is on average two weeks, which means that timeseries analyses may reveal what changes have occurred over the past 20 years due to changing ocean properties. Comparing sediment trap samples from the same timeframe across the three depths (1000m, 2000m and 3800m) will inform the vertical patterns of microbial community progression and may even indicate influences of alternative particle sources.
Supervisors: Dr. Robert Strzepek (IMAS-UTAS), Dr. Linda Armbrecht (IMAS-UTAS), Dr. Pauline Latour (IMAS-UTAS), Dr. Cathryn Wynn-Edwards (CSIRO), Dr. Levente Bodrossy (CSIRO).
Application deadline is the 1st of June 2025. If you'd like more information, please contact Dr. Robert Strzepek or Dr. Levente Bodrossy .
A Postdoc position in ancient environmental genomics at the University of Copenhagen. This project will explore the relationship between environmental changes and human demographics, disease load, and site histories by analysing ancient environmental DNA (eDNA). By extracting DNA from various archaeological contexts, including soil monoliths and discrete samples from around Europe, the study aims to reconstruct past environments and assess their impact on human populations. The project seek to pioneer the use of ancient metagenomes to address standing archaeological questions in collaboration with researchers across most of Europe. Through advanced techniques like deep shotgun metagenomics, this work seeks to enhance our understanding of anthropogenic environments in Western Eurasia. Funding is for two years, start date as soon as possible, at the Centre for Ancient Environmental Genomics, Globe Institute, UCPH, in Copenhagen.
Qualifications & Skills:
- A background in genetics, bioinformatics or like.
- Experience with ancient DNA analysis.
- Strong analytical skills and an interest in interdisciplinary research.
- Ability to work both independently and collaboratively in an international research environment.
If you are interested, send your questions or your CV directly to Asst Prof. Mikkel Winther Pedersen.
A Postdoc position at the Krabbenhoft Aquatic Ecology lab in the Department of Biological Sciences (University at Buffalo). The prospective postdoc will work on an NSF-funded interdisciplinary project to explore rapid climate and ecosystem change in Southeast Alaska, by combining paleoclimate proxies and models. The position will be based in the Biological Sciences Department at the University at Buffalo and will collaborate closely with grant partners, including multiple graduate students, another postdoctoral researcher, and the four PIs (Charlotte Lindqvist, Jason Briner, Elizabeth Thomas, and Corey Krabbenhoft). Start date in summer 2025. Please note this is not specifically a sedaDNA position, it is addressed to paleoclimatologists and paleoecologists at large. The prospective postdoc will get to work with a fun-loving and exciting research team! Those interested check out the postdoc offer and directly contact Dr. Corey Krabbenhoft.