Research Assistant Position: Ecology & Evolution
We have a two-year research assistant post (starting salary £28,759 p.a.) to work from April 2024 - March 2026 on a project exploring the ecological and evolutionary effects of phenological matching in trees, insects, and birds.
The post will support a range of work including:
(i) Data collection using remote sensing (drone piloting)
(ii) Ecological measurements of trees and insect phenology and diversity
(iii) Lab analysis using genomic and experimental methods to understand local adaptation
(iv) Possibly work on life history and behavior of birds, working as part of a team of 10 including four postdocs and four PhD students under the supervision of Prof. Ben Sheldon.
The post is based in the Department of Biology at the University of Oxford, with field and lab work at Wytham Woods, just outside Oxford. An ideal post for someone wanting to build an understanding of the application of a range of modern techniques to ecology and evolution.
Please contact Ben Sheldon at ben.sheldon@biology.ox.ac.uk (with CV) with informal queries.
We fly WingtraOne GEN II drones carrying multispectral cameras (MicaSense RedEdge-P) repeatedly over Wytham Woods thoughtout spring to capture vegetation phenology at the scale of individual trees. Images are stitched to create NDVI orthomosaics for the entire woodland. Central image shows an NDVI orthomosaic for a single flight in late March 2023, before most trees had come into leaf. Right-hand image shows an individual oak crown. Image ground sampling distance was ~3 cm / pixel, flying at ~100 m agl.
