 Graduate Research Opportunities in
Molluscan Biodiversity
For Fall 2011, I am seeking two students interested in pursuing graduate research in my lab at the University of Alabama. Qualified students (M.S. or Ph.D.) are eligible for teaching/research assistantships through the Biology Department as well as external grants.
Current projects in my lab use freshwater mollusks (especially freshwater mussels, order Unionoida) to address questions of phylogeny and species diversity at global, regional, and local scales. The methodological approaches that we commonly apply include phylogenetic analyses, biodiversity informatics, fieldwork, and museum studies. Besides having relationships with other labs in the USA, I have international collaborations in subsaharan Africa, Egypt, Europe, and Australia, and I am building research ties to colleagues in South America and southeastern Asia.
 A general description of my research can be found on my web site. The MUSSEL Project Web Site has a lot of information about recent publications, fieldwork, funding, etc.
In addition:
- we have access to a large (20,000+ lots) collection of marine and freshwater invertebrates,
- the University of Alabama has a nationally recognized graduate program in aquatic biology,
- we have a energetic and committed Evolutionary and Systematic Biology faculty, and
- Tuscaloosa is situated in the heart of global freshwater mollusk diversity.
 Topics for graduate student research projects are open to any that enhance of scope and impact of freshwater invertebrates research at the University of Alabama. For students interested in studying the family-level relationships of freshwater mussels, up to two years of graduate research fellowship funding will be available from the NSF-funded Bivatol (Bivalve, Assembling the Tree of Life) Project.
For more information, check out:
Queries can be forwarded directly to me, Dr. Daniel Graf, via email dlgraf(at)bama.ua.edu or Facebook. |
