PhD Positions
A newly funded research project seeks to understand how both rural human communities and species populations will respond to challenges posed by climate change and is by a team of collaborators at the University of Maine (Dr. Tim Waring, Dr. BrianMcGill, Dr. Katie Corlew, Dr. Matthew Dube), and the University of Vermont (Dr. Meredith Niles, Dr. Nicholas Gotelli, Dr. Laurent Hébert-Dufresne). The project will synthesize large amounts of data and develop new modeling techniques to predict climate-driven shifts in species ranges as well as the responses and cultural adaptations of human communities. Successful applicants for 2 PhD positions will work with a multidisciplinary team of biologists, social scientists and complexity researchers in Maine and Vermont.

Modeling Cultural Adaptation to Climate Change: UMaine
The main aim of this position is to develop theoretical models of human cultural evolution under the influence of climate change and apply those models to existing data from farmers and rural communities in the northeast and beyond. Tasks include developing theoretical models of cultural adaptation to the effects of climate change, fitting and calibrating those models based on data assembled as part of this research project, and using the models to make predictions to help rural communities and policy makers understand and anticipate the needs of adapting to climate change. The graduate student will work with Dr. Tim Waring (timwaring.info).