“Suitable for students with background (& interest) in Botany, Plant Biology, Statistical Ecology, Gaming, and related fields.”
Plant Succession at Mount St Helens Dr. Virginia Dale is seeking two Masters students to assist with synthesizing her 42-year study of succession at University of Tennessee.
The research will integrate concepts about succession, disturbances, and indicators based on long-term research at Mount St. Helens. The project will produce a scientific paper, presentations, and data sets as well as a book and a serious game that will provide a means for the public to learn about the forces that affect ecological changes during succession and ongoing disturbances.
- Starting August 2022, the successful candidates will work under the supervision of Dr. Virginia Dale and be enrolled at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.
While the project will be conducted under the auspices of the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, the students may be affiliated with the National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis (NIMBIOS), the School of Journalism and Electronic Media, or the game design program in University of Tennessee’s College of Architecture and Design.
Programs Awaiting Successful Candidates
1). Masters of Science opportunity to synthesize ecological data: This Masters student will focus on analyzing the vegetation data and helping explore the scientific understanding of succession.
- This student will help produce a scientific paper that evaluates how indicators reveal conditions under which changes in the ecological system occur. All statistical analysis will be done in R, and the models will be designed to identify spatial autocorrelations.
- The student will also help finalize data sets developed from long-term studies at Mount St. Helens that will be permanently archived at Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument. The student may contribute to the book for the general public.
2). Masters of Science opportunity to develop a serious game: This Masters student will focus on developing a serious game (that is, a game with education as its prime objective) and will contribute to the book for the general public as well.
- The underlying scenario of the game will be succession at Mount St Helens with the goal to learn enough about succession that the ecosystem does not collapse while following established premises about ecosystem services. Some experience with serious games is helpful.
- The student will also help finalize data sets developed from long-term studies at Mount St. Helens that will be permanently archived at Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument. The student may contribute to the book for the general public.
Stipend
Funding for each Masters student is for 24 months beginning in the fall semester of 2022 and includes a graduate stipend starting at $22,000 per year, tuition waiver, and student health insurance.
Application process
Interested applicants should apply to the graduate school at the University of Tennessee by December 1, 2021, using the application at the Office of Graduate Admissions and should also consult the information at the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology available here.
Interested students should note that the December 1 deadline is earlier than the deadlines.
Applicants should also communicate their interests and any questions to Virginia Dale (vdale@utk.edu)
About The University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Founded in 1794 – The University of Tennessee is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. It is the flagship campus of the University of Tennessee system, with ten undergraduate colleges and eleven graduate colleges.
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