Recruiting Master or PhD student for project on Methane emissions from arctic ponds

Laboratory in biooptics and microbial ecology of the INRS-ETE

Methane emissions from arctic ponds

Arctic climate change accelerates permafrost thawing and the mobilisation of carbon (C) stored in frozen soils of the tundra for millennia. This thaw generates thousands of small aquatic systems with diverse limnological and geomorphological properties. Some of these systems emit substantial amounts of greenhouse gases and scientists estimate that these emissions could influence the climate. However, the source and lability of the available organic C, and the microbial communities of these systems influence C exchanges, which are quite variable in space and time, leaving large uncertainties on their potential to influence climate at the planetary scale. Notably, methane emissions through ebullition have been overlooked. Moreover, gas exchange models used to estimate diffusive emissions are inadequate for such small systems. Finally, the emission of old C stored in peat deposits could have a determining influence on climate through a positive feedback, by comparison to C recently fixed by plants, urging for the identification of C sources used by microbes.

The project consist in sampling a series of thaw ponds on Bylot Island, Nunavut, to determine diffusion and ebullition flux, C sources with 14C dating, and the factors influencing the emissions (geomorphology surrounding the ponds, physical structure of the water column and sediment below, C characteristics, CH4 oxidation with stable isotopes, etc.). This multidisciplinary project will be supervised by I. Laurion (limnology, microbial ecology, INRS-ETE) and D. Fortier (geomorphology, U. of Montreal), and is financed by ArcticNet. The student will be highly encouraged to apply to EnviroNorth scholarship program (deadline 15 November,http://environord-environorth.ca).

Start: as soon as possible (January 2014)

Contact: Isabelle.Laurion@ete.inrs.ca
The application needs to include a CV, a motivation letter, the university transcripts and 2 letters of recommendation.
A good knowledge of biology and biogeochemical cycles will be an asset.

Student Technical Experience Programme (STEP)

Job No.:707028

Division: Group Mining & Technology

Site: Corporate Centre London

Department: Exploration

Work type: Student Vacation Work

Location: London

Am I eligible?

We offer summer vacation work placements to selected undergraduates studying geology and/or a geosciences subject in European Universities. During their STEP placements students are offered the opportunity to work on real life projects and in order to ensure that both parties benefit the most from the experience, only applications from 3^rd and 4^th years students will be considered.

A typical placement

Placements are usually eight to twelve weeks long and take place between June and September. They are typically available in mining operations or exploration sites in Africa, South America, Asia-Australia, Canada and Northern Europe.

Where can I go?

Where you get to go on your work placement varies from year to year and depends on the projects and opportunities available in our business. Recent placements have included Australia, Canada, Chile, Peru and Finland.

Practical help

If you are selected for STEP, you'll need an up-to-date passport and you'll need to apply for your own work visa, but our HR team in London can help with this.

We'll pay your travel costs to your placement and the sponsoring business unit will arrange accommodation and provide reasonable living expenses in line with your host country.

Taking part in STEP opens doors and lets you see what it is like working for one of the world's leading mining companies.

Here are just some of the ways you could benefit:

• work on a real project in a real workplace

• gain insight into the practical applications of your degree

• spend two to three months working in a new environment

• meet new people from across our truly international workforce

• experience a new culture, even learn a new language

• increase your career prospects with valuable work experience for your CV.

Advertised:

7 Oct 2013 GMT Standard Time

Closing date:

30 Nov 2013 11:55pm GMT Standard Time

Source: http://bit.ly/19hnJyB

PHD student needed in Environmental Soil Chemistry

A fully-funded PhD graduate assistantship, starting in fall 2014, is available in environmental soil chemistry in the Department of Ecosystem Science and Management at the University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY.

Manganese (Mn) oxides are one group of the most reactive environmental materials that play a significant role in controlling contaminant fate and transport and nutrient cycling in natural environmental systems and also have applications in water treatment, air purification and electrochemistry. We seek a highly‑motivated PhD candidate to conduct research on biogenic Mn oxide (BioMnOx) nanoparticles that are formed through microbially-mediated Mn²⁺ oxidation. The student will investigate how the mineralogical and chemical properties of BioMnOx depend on environmental conditions under which the oxides form, and how the property variations affect BioMnOx reactivity regarding metal and nutrient cycling. The student will learn multiple state-of-the-art synchrotron X‑ray techniques for characterizing nanoparticles and metals, including X-ray absorption spectroscopy and high-energy X-ray scattering or atomic pair distribution function analysis available at the national synchrotron X-ray facilities.

The ideal candidate will have a MS degree in soil science, geochemistry/chemistry, environmental science and engineering, and geomicrobiology with a strong background and interest in chemical, mineralogical and microbial processes. To apply go online (http://www.uwyo.edu/uwgrad/prospective/applying/index.html) or for pre-application evaluation you may email CV, unofficial GPA and GRE/TOEFL scores, and contact information for three references to mzhu6@uwyo.edu. The application deadline isJanuary 31, 2014. For more information, please contact Dr. Mengqiang Zhu, Assistant Professor in Soils and Environmental Biogeochemistry at mzhu6@uwyo.edu and307-766-5523. (http://www.uwyo.edu/esm/faculty-and-staff/mengqiang-zhu.html and http://www.uwyo.edu/esm/graduate/prospective/majors/soil.html)

DFID, ACU and AAS Launch £4.85 million Climate Impacts Research Capacity Building Programme in Africa

The African Academy of Sciences (AAS) and the Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU) are pleased to invite you and/or your institution to submit an Expression of Interest (EOI) for a new fellowship scheme and institutional capacity strengthening programme that will enhance research into the impacts of climate change.

The GBP 4.8m programme titled, Climate Impacts Research Capacity and Leadership Enhancement (CIRCLE), is funded by the UK government and will strengthen both institutional and individual research capacity.  It will fund maximum one-year fellowships for 60 post-Doctoral and 40 post-MSc researchers and concurrently run a programme for strengthening institutional research management and support for early career academics. The fellowships will cover the full cost of a one-year placement at another (host) African institution and will commence in 2014. Full implementation of the programme will be contingent on sufficient interest and commitment being expressed by African institutions to host and nominate fellows and a large enough pool of eligible fellows.

For further information about this programme, please visit CIRCLE Call for Expression of Interest (EOI) or the CIRCLE webpage and read the criteria before submitting your EOI. To submit your EOI as a potential Host and/or Nominating/Home institution or as a Fellow, click on the relevant link below:

EOI for potential Host institutions

EOI for potential Nominating/Home institutions

EOI for potential Fellows

The deadline for submitting an expression of interest is 31 October 2013.

For further assistance please contact Dr Benji Gyampoh, b.gyampoh@aasciemce.org or Ms Jay Kubler, j.kubler@acu.ac.uk. 

You are kindly requested  to assist by forwarding this call to all suitable institutions and/or individuals in your network.