We are looking for MSc or PhD students to start in 2024/2025. Students with interests in evolutionary genetics, ecology, forestry and conservation management are encouraged to apply. The position will be based in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Students will be trained in evolutionary/ecological genetics, statistical analysis and scientific programming. While experience in these areas would be beneficial, enthusiasm and interest are most important at this stage. Those who identify as members of under-represented groups are strongly encouraged to apply.
If you are interested in the position and would like to know more, please send informal enquiries and/or applications to thomas.booker@ubc.ca.
To apply, please email me at the above address and include the following:
The details of the admissions process for UBC Forestry can be found here. For first enquiries though, please get in touch with me at the email address above.
The work we are doing at the moment focusses on studying local adaptation. Local adaptation is an important phenomenon in the natural world and particularly relevant for forest trees. A large proportion of tree species exhibit evidence for local adaptation, so much so that consideration of local adaptation is reflected in forestry policy in some regions. Local adaptation arises due to variation in natural selection across a species’ range. Any factor that influences the efficiency of natural selection may, thus, influence the evolution of local adaptation. I am very happy to discuss ideas to different topics too, but I list a few projects below to give you a sense of some of the project ideas I have had.
Studying local adaptation in forest trees with a meta-analysis of provenance trials
The effects of local migration rates of the evolution of local adaptation in forest trees
Characterizing the genealogical signal of local adaptation
Studying the process of range expansion mediated by local adaptation
The genealogical history of local adaptation in black cottonwood
The geography of species range boundaries in North America
These project titles are really just jumping off points. The ideal situation for me is that students take their research projects and run with them in interesting directions I had not foreseen.