Two PhD positions available in forest productivity and insect biodiversity in boreal mixedwood forests of Northwestern Quebec.

Ecosystem management has often been advocated as a means to maintain healthy, productive forests while protecting forest biodiversity. Much of this approach relies on partial cutting, whereby trees are left after harvest to maintain canopy cover, provide a future supply of deadwood and protect biodiversity which may be otherwise lost through more intensive clearcut harvesting. In the boreal context, partial cutting has also been advocated as a means to ‘accelerate’ forest succession and introduce old-growth attributes in managed forests. However, whether partial cutting achieves these ends and is capable of maintaining forest biodiversity over extended periods has yet to be verified.

We are looking for motivated candidates for two PhD positions examining the effects of partial cutting 20 years post-harvest on forest productivity and biodiversity in boreal mixedwood forests of Northwestern Quebec. The work will take place at project SAFE in the Lac Duparquet Research and Teaching Forest. SAFE is a replicated experiment designed to test novel silvicultural approaches across a variety of boreal stand types which has amassed 20 years of detailed data on recovery of forest structure, productivity and insect and plant communities.

PhD 1 will focus on evaluating forest productivity and stand structure 20 years post-harvest. Candidates for this position should have experience in forest ecology and soil science. This position will be based at the Institute for Forest Research (IRF) at Université of Québec à Abitibi-Témiscamingue (UQAT) in Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec. UQAT offers financial aid to international students. Rouyn-Noranda has ready access to outdoor activities (canoeing, camping, skiing) as well as a cultural center of northwestern Quebec hosting such events as the World Guitar Festival and the Emergent Music Festival.

PhD 2 will focus on evaluating long-term recovery of litter arthropod biodiversity (beetles and spiders) 20 years post-harvest. Candidates for the position should have experience with taxonomy of ground beetles, spider or rove beetles. Experience in multivariate community analysis is also desirable. This position will be based at the Université of Québec à Montréal (UQAM) in Montreal Quebec. UQAM is among the largest universities in Quebec and has recently been ranked 6^th in the world for research in forestry and forest ecology. UQAM also offers financial aid to international students. Montreal is culturally rich yet one of Canada’s most affordable cities.

Both candidates should have strong writing skills and the capacity to work independently and in teams. Both positions will enjoy benefits as members of Chair in Sustainable Forest Management (http://chaireafd.uqat.ca/) and the Center for Forest Studies (http://www.cef-cfr.ca/). These organizations provide opportunities for inter-university collaboration, travel funds and access to research professionals in GIS, advanced statistics and database management.

Both positions come with a stipend of 20,000$/year for three years.

To apply please send a CV, letter of motivation, transcripts and names of two references to Benoit Lafleur (benoit.lafleur@uqat.ca) or Tim Work (work.timothy@uqam.ca) before 15 March, 2018.

**********************************************

posted on behalf of Tim Work by Brigitte Burger, IUFRO Headquarters