Funded 4-year PhD Opportunity: The Role of Plant-Pathogen Interactions in Shaping Tropical Secondary Forest Succession

We are seeking an excellent graduate student for a PhD project at ETH-Zürich with fieldwork in Panama at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. The student will use a combination of methods, including analysis of existing forest census data, soil microbial analysis, and transplantation experiments, to quantify the role plant-pathogen interactions play in tropical forest succession.

Project background

More than 50% of remaining tropical forests are secondary. These naturally regenerating secondary forests rapidly take up atmospheric carbon dioxide and bind it into organic matter, providing an effective strategy for climate change mitigation. However, rates and trajectories of secondary forest recovery are highly unpredictable and determinants of successional change in tropical forests are poorly understood. To date, studies have largely focused on how shifting abiotic resources (e.g. light) drive changes in the tree community over secondary forest succession. In contrast, the role of biotic factors (e.g. pathogens) in determining succession has largely been ignored, yet recent studies show that plant-pathogen interactions play a critical role in shaping plant communities in undisturbed tropical forests. This project aims to understand how plant-pathogen interactions shape succession, and to disentangle the relative roles of plant-pathogen interactions and abiotic environment in determining the trajectory of natural regeneration. The PhD project is part of a larger collaborative project led by Dr. Daisy Dent and Prof. Dr. Tom Crowther at ETH Zurich, and project partners Prof. Dr. Liza Comita (Yale University, USA), Dr. Nadja Rüger (iDiv, Germany) and Dr. Kristin Saltonstall (Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama).

Application notes

The successful student will have a keen interest in tropical forest ecology, fieldwork experience (preferably in tropical environments), a strong grounding in quantitative methods and statistics, excellent communication skills in English (and preferably also Spanish) and a motivation for self-learning. The student would start as soon as possible; and must meet PhD entry requirements at ETH-Zürich with a master’s degree from a recognized university and an excellent academic record.

The student will be based in the Crowther Lab at ETH-Zürich with fieldwork in Panama at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute.

Please send queries and applications to: daisy.dent@usys.ethz.ch.

To apply please include the following:

• a one-page cover letter summarizing research interests and experience, and relevance to the advertised project
• a curriculum vitae
• names and contact details of two references

After reviewing all applicants, we will ask for reference letters and official transcripts for shortlisted candidates.

Funding notes

This is a funded PhD project based at ETH-Zürich. The project is fully funded for 4 years, with salary in line with Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) rates. Research costs associated with the project will be covered through this broader grant awarded to the supervisors by SNSF.