Opportunities

Graduate student positions in wildlife evolutionary ecology and genetics 

The main research themes in the lab are to understand the links between genetic diversity, fitness-related traits, and contemporary adaptive evolution in wildlife. Most of our research focusses on Sable Island horses, one of the world's largest long-term individual-based studies of large vertebrates (>1,500 horses monitored yearly since 2007, current population size ~550). I am happy to discuss potential projects with graduate students and post-doctoral researchers who have compatible interests and want to take advantage of our large genomic, metagenomic and phenotypic datasets or generate additional data to address evolutionary ecology and genetic questions. This includes, for example, making use of readily available genomic data (~45,000 SNP) from ~800 individuals, shallow shotgun (microbiome) sequencing of >2,500 fecal samples, mixed parasitic strongyle infection (ITS2 DNA metabarcoding) composition of >2,500 samples, fecal stress hormone profiles of >3,000 fecal samples, as well as paired fligth initiation distance, body size, coat color, body condition, reproductive success and survival data. I am currently particularly interested in recruiting/working with someone having an interest in using genomic and quantitative genetic approaches to study the genomic and metagenomic basis of adaptive phenotypic variation. 

There are no fully-funded graduate student and post-doctoral researcher positions at the moment, but I am keen to support individuals looking to apply for external scholarships/fellowships to join the group, such as NSERC, Liber Ero, or Marie Curie scholarships/fellowships.

Ideal candidates will have demonstrated skills or interest in molecular or evolutionary ecology, enjoy curiosity-driven research, working in teams, and be comfortable contributing to laboratory and bioinformatics work. 

MSc and PhD students currently receive minimum stipends of $30,000 and $32,000 per year, respectively. 

I respect and support people with diverse cultural backgrounds and I am an ally of the LGBTQ2S+ community.  

Calgary is a vibrant multicultural city that consistently ranks in the World’s top 10 most liveable cities. It is located just 1 hour away from Banff National Park and the Canadian Rockies, with outstanding year-round opportunities for outdoor activities.

Information about applying for graduate studies in the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine is available at http://www.vet.ucalgary.ca/graduate-postgraduate/future-graduate-students.

Interested students/post-docs should send me a brief email outlining research interests, as well as a CV and unofficial transcripts at jocelyn.poissant at ucalgary.ca.