Is Cooperation Going to Save Animals from the Negative Impacts of Climate Change? at Oxford Brookes University

3 Year, full-time PhD studentship (Nigel Groome Studentship) 

Eligibility: Home UK/EU and International applicants

Bursary p.a.: Bursary equivalent to UKRI national minimum stipend plus fees (current 2023/24 bursary rate is £18,622)

University fees and bench fees: University fees and bench fees will be met by the University for the 3 years of the funded Studentship. Visa and associated costs are not funded. International applicants can visit https://www.brookes.ac.uk/students/isat/ for further information.

Closing date: 26 January 2024

Interviews: Tbc

Start date: September 2024 

Project Title: Environmental resiliency via social buffering in animals: is cooperation going to save animals from the negative impacts of climate change?

Director of Studies: Dr Alison Forhead

Supervisors: Dr Miya Warrington

Requirements:

Entry requirements: Applicants should have a first or upper second-class honours degree from a Higher Education Institution in the UK or acceptable equivalent qualification. EU Applicants must have a valid IELTS Academic test certificate (or equivalent) with an overall minimum score of 6.5 to 7.0 and no score below 6.0 issued in the last 2 years by an approved test centre.

The studentship requires you to undertake the equivalent of up to 6 hrs of teaching per week on average, during semester time, and to include preparation and marking (but no more than 20 hrs per week), and to participate in a teaching skills course without further remuneration.

Project Description: 

The ecology and behaviour of animals are changing in response to the rapid global environmental changes caused by climate change. Behaviours can provide early clues that animals are affected by changing environments. In social species, interactions between ecological factors and social behaviours may influence individual and population responses and persistence. Sociality may either mediate or exacerbate the impacts of environmental change and influence a species’ resilience. Based in the C-19 Wild Warrington lab, the student will examine how social animals behaviourally respond to the impacts of human activity/climate change. As behaviours interact with other traits, morphological (e.g., body size) and physiological (e.g., hormones) traits will also be examined. Students may choose either/both long-term (> 20 years) wild study systems: South African ground squirrels, CGS (SA Lombard Nature Reserve, South Africa) or Siberian jays, SJ (Luondu Boreal Ecosystem field station, Sweden).

This project would suit someone interested in wildlife monitoring, conservation and applied policy (forestry, reserve management). The student will conduct field research abroad for ~4 months/year (CGS: May-August; SJ = March, Aug-Oct).

The student will be part of an international team via collaborators through the University of Manitoba, Canada and University of Pretoria, South Africa(Waterman Lab) and the University of Konstanz, Germany (C-Wild Griesser).

Experience required:

• Ecology background 
• Fieldwork 
• Animal handling (desirable)
• Competency in coding (R) and statistics
• Experience/willingness to use biotracking technology
• Good people skills 
• Basic lab skills (e.g., molecular/genetic) 
• Driver’s licence

Contact: mwarrington@brookes.ac.uk

How to apply: Applicants should visit the project webpage to download instructions on how to submit an online application, under ‘How to apply’ button on the Oxford Brookes vacancy page. You will be routed to this when you click on the above “Apply” button. Enquiries about the application process can be sent to: hls-applications@brookes.ac.uk. 

Advertised competitively alongside our current Nigel Groome PhD studentship advertisements for Biological and Medical Sciences. Part time MPhil/PhD study will be exceptionally considered (Home Fee status applicants only).