The University of Florida Forest Entomology Lab is offering a postdoc position to study various aspects of the bark beetle-fungus symbiosis and its effect on trees.

The topic is open-ended

The applicant will decide, together with our team, the topic they will pursue. It should be related to the relationship between bark/ambrosia beetles and fungi, ideally using molecular biology or quantitative/statistical methods. Previous experience with molecular biology or statistical ecology experience would be a bonus.

Topics that we are seeking to develop include:

• DNA or RNA metabarcoding of fungal communities
• the transcriptome of the mycangium
• genome features in the beetles and/or the fungi related to the symbiosis
• fungus community analysis, network analysis or modeling
• physiology of trees under attack
• pest and disease diagnostic tools
• invasive beetle/fungus assessment
• forest pests in Asia
• policy and regulation of threats to forest health

Other topics are available, and we welcome the candidate’s personal research preferences.

Includes annual stipend of $50,000 and health insurance. The initial contract is for one year with high likelihood of extension to multiple years depending on productivity. The position is based at the University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, but can include cooperation with colleagues at other institutions. International applicants are welcome.

Application deadline: Until filled.

Start date: any time during 2021 or early 2022.

To apply

Send an email to hulcr@ufl.edu and include 1) Cover Letter, 2) your CV, and 3) a list of hobbies and interests. Specify which of the two positions you are interested in.

Interested in invasive species and international field work? Join our team in an exciting project:

Pre-invasion assessment of Asian wood borers by sentinel gardens

We are looking for a PhD STUDENT or a POSTDOC to manage existing sentinel gardens in China and to collect unique data on high-priority, potentially invasive wood boring insects. What is a sentinel garden? See the coverage of our project in Science: Scientists plant ‘sentinel trees’ to warn of devastating pests.

Our first round of results is very promising, see the video below:

The position is fully-funded, and includes annual stipend ($26,000 for a student, $50,000 for a postdoc), health insurance, research expenses, and visa assistance.

The PhD graduate assistant contract is for 4 years. Postdoc contract is for one year with high likelihood of extension to multiple years depending on productivity. The positions are based at the University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, but will include substantial field work in Asia, most likely China. Opportunities in cutting-edge research technology, conferences and collaborations are regularly available. International applicants are welcome.

Colleagues from China are welcome to apply for this position. We completely understand the difficulties with current visa policy and travel. If you are interested in working with us but are concerned about your ability to join an American institution, let’s get in touch to start the conversation.

The project will focus on one main research direction:

• Interactions between Asian wood borers and American trees in our network of sentinel gardens in China.

Additional topics that the applicant is welcome to develop include:

• Beetle or fungus molecular and traditional systematics or ecology.
• Host tree physiology and response under stress.
• Translation of invasion science to policy, collaboration with agencies.

Previous experience with beetle research is not necessary. Experience with invasion ecology, systematics, tree physiology or statistics is a bonus.

Application deadline

March 12, 2021.

Start date

Any time during 2021, the earlier the better.

To apply or to inquire, send an email to hulcr@ufl.edu and include 1) Cover Letter, 2) your CV, and 3) a list of your interests and hobbies.

The University of Florida Forest Entomology lab (J. Hulcr) and the UF Fungal Systematics Lab (M. Smith) are looking for a joint postdoctoral researcher.

The fully-funded postdoctoral associate position includes a $50,000 annual stipend, health insurance, research expenses, and visa assistance. The duration of the contract is one year with high likelihood of extension to multiple years depending on productivity.  Opportunities in cutting-edge research technology, conferences and collaborations are regularly available. International applicants are welcome.

The postdoctoral scholar is expected to focus on two research directions:

• Molecular and traditional systematics of ambrosia fungi
• Advanced imaging of mutualistic fungi within insects, such as FISH or similar methods

Additional topics that the applicant is welcome to develop include:

• DNA or RNA metabarcoding of fungal communities
• The transcriptome of the mycangium
• Convergent genome features in the beetles and/or the fungi related to the symbiosis

Previous experience with beetle research is not necessary, but modern molecular biology experience is a bonus.

Application deadline

February 20, 2021.

Start date

Any time during 2021, the earlier the better.

To apply or to inquire, send an email to hulcr@ufl.edu and include 1) Letter of interest, 2) your CV, and 3) a list of your interests and hobbies.

The Forest Entomology lab at UF SFRC is offering a fully-paid Masters degree focused on interesting and important forest insects.

The Black Turpentine Beetle is knocking down pines across the South East. Please help us carry out a test of tree chemicals that the beetle is attracted to!

It will be a mix of field work, lab work and analytical writing.

Start: as soon as possible, Fall 2020 at the latest
Fully paid salary of $24,000/year plus health insurance.
Tuition is covered.

If interested, please contact Jiri Hulcr at hulcr@ufl.edu as soon as possible, ideally before March 15. Please email:
1) your CV
2) a couple of sentences about your research interest,
3) description of hobbies and other creative activities, and
4) contact information of your recent supervisors.

The UF Forest Entomology Lab is embarking on a new set of experiments to better understand a recent pair of invaders that could potentially have an outsized impact on the environment. The ambrosia beetle Ambrosiodmus minor and its fungal symbiont Flavodon ambrosius are a pair of introduced species from Southeast Asia which are unusual because unlike most beetle-borne fungi, F. ambrosius is a wood-decaying fungus.

Among approximately 3,000 species of ambrosia beetles, which transport and cultivate specific fungi that serve as their sole source of food, only five are currently known to carry fungi that decay wood (though it is likely that there are more to be identified). Flavodon‘s ability to decay wood could have a broader effect in its introduced environment, impacting the forest microbiome.

“Flavodon offers an example of how [introduced beetles] might be kind of quietly changing ecosystem dynamics,” says Dr. James Skelton, part of the team researching the invasion, “introducing a fungus that is breaking down wood, getting there faster than other decay fungi, perhaps competing with native fungi and excluding native biodiversity.”

“Flavodon seems to out-compete other decay fungi,” says Demian Gomez, a PhD candidate leading the new study. “This fungus can grow really fast and outpace the other decay fungi.”

The first specimens of A. minor and Flavodon in North America were found in Jacksonville, Florida in 2011. Since then, the symbionts and their hosts have spread rapidly and become one of the most common species of ambrosia beetles in Northern Florida. They have also been collected in Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi. Analysis of their native range in Asia suggests that the beetles and fungi will probably be able to tolerate cold weather well enough to continue moving north into the forests of the mid-Atlantic.

A. minor can colonize many species of tree and is not specific to any particular clade of host plants. Even pine trees, with their unique set of chemical defenses, can be colonized. However, the beetles have not yet been observed attacking healthy trees. They target dead and dying hosts.

The experiment beginning this month involves inoculating 21 wooden logs with Flavodon. A control group of 21 identical logs were not inoculated. Innoculation was accomplished by drilling out a dozen holes in each log and filling them with wooden pegs pre-colonized in the lab with Flavodon. The control group received sterilized wooden pegs. The logs will be left in a forest for approximately seven months and then sampled to determine the composition of their respective fungal communities.

“We’ve seen that Flavodon is pretty aggressive,” Gomez says. “We’re going to test how it actually effects the natural communities of fungus. We want to quantify exactly how aggressive it is competing against other species in the fungal community.”

“These beetles are very abundant, they’re infesting a lot of trees and they are bringing in a novel fungus that is capable of doing pretty extensive decay,” says Skelton. “And that entry into the wood that Flavodon has is pretty unique among decay fungus. Most of them have to get in through wind blown spores, or wait for a limb to break… but having a beetle to fly you around and bore a hole through the bark and innoculate that fungus into freshly dead wood is an advantage that pretty much no other decay fungus has.”

“We might see increased decomposition rates and consequently more carbon released as CO2 as the wood decomposes,” Skelton says.

Forest symbiology: interactions between bark beetles, fungi, trees and the planet

PDF HERE: PhD student position

Join the Forest Entomology team at the University of Florida (www.ambrosiasymbiosis.org) on our quest to understand bark beetles and their impact, and communicate your science to various audiences. We are looking for someone to train with us while bringing new ideas, skills, or even a new discipline to this team.

Our team includes expertise ranging from molecular ecology to biosystematics to invasive species and climate change. You could be an entomologist, mycologist, or molecular biologist but you don’t have to be. You could just as easily be a computer scientist or an economist interested in forests, symbioses or the environment. We are interested in self-motivated, hard-working young scientists who will collaborate with the rest of the team on cutting-edge questions and exciting publications.

Do you have these TALENTS?

• Self-sufficiency in the field
• Quantitative thinking
• Scientific writing

These skills are not required but represent some of the types of fields that you may train in as a member of our team:

• Ecological statistics
• Molecular biosystematics
• Entomology, mycology or phytopathology
• Experience with government agencies or with the cooperative extension
• Computer programming
• Database management
• Documentary techniques, such as video, creative writing, or online science communication

Your salary, tuition, health care and research expenses will be fully covered. We welcome and encourage women, minorities, and LBGTQ candidates to apply. As part of the funding (graduate assistantship) you will be expected to contribute to extension activities or teaching.

Dates

Applications are due on January 10, 2019. Your appointment would start in the fall of 2019.

Location

1. The main campus of the University of Florida in Gainesville, FL, one of the best college towns in the US.
2. Various field locations in Asia, South Africa, Central America, etc.

How to apply

Email 1) your CV with emphasis on publications, 2) a short statement of interest and 3) a list of your hobbies to hulcr@ufl.edu with subject line “PhD applicant 2019”.