Professor or Assistant Professor (Tenure Track) of Climate Geology - Switzerland

The Department of Earth Sciences (www.erdw.ethz.ch) at ETH Zurich invites applications for a climate geologist at the full, associate or assistant professor level. An assistant professorship promotes the careers of younger scientists. The initial appointment is for four years with the possibility of renewal for an additional three-year period and promotion to a permanent position.

The successful candidate is a leading scientist investigating climates of the geological past. He or she is expected to build a vigorous research program aimed at understanding climate and climate changes on timescales from millennia to geological epochs, using geological or geochemical approaches and modern analytical techniques. Ideally, the future professor would complement existing strengths in the geosciences and climate sciences at ETH Zurich. The teaching portfolio is expected to include undergraduate classes (German or English) in Earth system sciences, sedimentology, and participation in our field program; more advanced graduate classes (English) may cover aspects of Earth's climate, Earth history, and the use of proxies for inferences about past climates. 

Details regarding the application procedure and required documents can be found at www.erdw.ethz.ch/en/department/jobs/professorships. 

Curator Position (2)- La Brea Tar Pits and Museum

The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County (NHM) seeks two Curators to lead the research programs and steer the public engagement of its renowned Late Pleistocene Rancho La Brea collections housed at the La Brea Tar Pits & Museum. The successful candidates will conduct collection-based research in evolutionary biology and paleoecology including systematics, biogeography, climate change, and biodiversity science.
The NHM, the largest natural history museum in the western United States, has recently finished a dramatic transformation including new ground-breaking exhibitions and a 3 ½ acre wildlife garden. It anticipates completing a similar transformation at the La Brea Tar Pits & Museum during the next decade. The NHM’s mission is to inspire wonder, discovery, and responsibility for our natural and cultural worlds. Our strategic intent—“To be the best at communicating how our planet and life on it changes over time and why this matters”— guides our priorities over the next decade. The successful candidates will have a record of outstanding research as well as excellent communication skills, a talent for collaboration across disciplines, and an innate ability to engage and enthuse the public and stakeholders through their work.
More information here: http://jobs.sciencecareers.org/job/384422/curators-/

Lecturer in Palaeobiology- Cambridge, UK

The University of Cambridge invites applications from candidates carrying out creative and innovative research in the field of palaeobiology in the widest sense, including (but not necessarily limited to) palaeozoology, palaeobotany, micropalaeontology, evolutionary theory and/or biogeochemistry. They are particularly interested in candidates who show a talent for connecting disciplines, and have the imaginative flair to set future agendas.

Candidates should have an outstanding record of research in a relevant subject area and will be expected to develop a vigorous research programme at an international level. The person appointed will be expected to contribute to the Department's undergraduate teaching, possibly including areas beyond their immediate field of specialisation. All of our academic staff take part in undergraduate field teaching.The successful applicant will be expected to contribute to the research activities of the Department, to supervise research students and to actively seek external funds to support their research.

More information can be found here: http://www.jobs.cam.ac.uk/job/8589/

2 Postdocs (nitrogen cycle and climate) - Cornell

Two funded postdoctoral positions are available focusing on understanding the exciting and quickly evolving area of interaction between the biogeochemistry of nitrogen cycle and climate.  The successful applicants will demonstrate experience with with models or large datasets, and have a record of publications in peer-reviewed literature.  He or she will work on collaborative, interdisciplinary modeling and model-data synthesis projects that are relevant for predicting human impacts on biogeochemistry and climate. The work will involve analyzing various aspects of the nitrogen cycle and its climate impacts with an emphasis on land processes including those that couple atmospheric and terrestrial nitrogen cycling. A wide range of possible research topics are possible including the impact of managed land on the nitrogen cycle, interactions between the nitrogen cycle and terrestrial carbon storage, and interactions with atmospheric constituents extending to pollution and climate change, as well as constraining the nitrogen cycle with measurements.  

These positions are open now and will be reviewed as they are received in Christine Goodale’s, Peter Hess’s and Natalie Mahowald’s research groups at Cornell University. The positions requires a PhD in a relevant area. The project involves researchers at multiple institutions with the possibility of travel for collaborations.   

Applicants should send an email directly to pgh25@cornell.edu,  clg33@cornell.edu, and nmm63@cornell.edu and include a CV and three references. Cornell University is an equal opportunity, affirmative action educator and employer.

Postdoc– Origin of Land Plants at the Natural History Museum, London

Postdoctoral Research Assistant (PDRA) – Origin of Land Plants: Genomes, Rocks, Biogeocycles

Natural History Museum Department of Life Science, London

Job Description:

Applications are invited for a two-year position as part of the NERC funded research project “Origin of Land Plants: Genomes, Rocks, and Biogeocycles”.  The successful candidate will join an interdisciplinary team of palaeontologists, plant scientists, phylogeonomicists, and biogeochemical modellers located at some of the world’s foremost centres for palaeo- and biodiversity research namely Natural History Museum, Earth Sciences at Bristol, Earth & Ocean Sciences at Cardiff, Animal & Plant Sciences at Sheffield, and HEE at University College London. The main objective of the project is to reconstruct the colonization of land by plants, and its impact on Earth Systems by reconstructing the phylogeny and divergence times of all extant land plant lineages and their Paleozoic fossil relatives.

The PDRA will be mainly responsible to carry out the phylogenomic analyses, the integration of the fossil taxa into a phylogeny reconstructed using both genomic and morphological evidence, and the establishment of a robust divergence time frame using newly developed methods that allow a more realistic integration of fossil evidence into DNA based divergence time estimations.

The PDRA is expected to collaborate with all researchers involved in the proposal but especially with Philip Donoghue (Bristol), Harald Schneider (NHM), and Ziheng Yang (UCL). THE PDRA is expected to take the lead on the publication of the research results of the component on phylogenomics and divergence time estimates beside the communication of the research to both expert and non-expert audiences.

Desired Skills and Experience: We are looking for a highly motivated early-career scientist with experience in assembling datasets for phylogenomic analyses, phylogenetic analyses using phylogenomic datasets, and divergence time estimates using bayesian analytical tools.  A background in statistics and bioinformatics will be appreciated, whereas documented expertise in oral and printed communication of research results is a requirement.

Starting data: January/February 2016.

Salary: following the NERC guidelines.

Contact: Prof Harald Schneider, Department of Life Sciences, Natural History Museum, London, UK. Email: h.schneider@nhm.ac.uk

The position is open until filled. The interviews are expected to happen in early December 2015.

GBGM Lunch at GSA

Thanks to all of you who joined us at the GBGM Lunch at GSA and congratulations to our 2015 Division Award winners! Every year the GSA Geobiology and Geomicrobiology division selects three exceptional researchers to receive pre-tenure, post-tenure, and distinguished career awards.  This year the awards go to Arpita Bose, Tim Lyons, and Elizabeth and Rudolf Raff. Their bios are here: http://gsageobiology.blogspot.com/2015/07/2015-division-awards.html

President Marc Laflamme and the Raffs

President Marc Laflamme and Tim Lyons