[Taxacom] PhD positions Univ Michigan

[riina at umich.edu]

Ph.D. opportunities in Plant Systematics
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (EEB), University of 
Michigan, Ann Arbor

We are looking for bright, motivated students who wish to enter the 
Ph.D. program in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of 
Michigan to conduct research on the systematics of the large plant 
genus Euphorbia. The positions will be part of a project entitled 
“Euphorbia – a global inventory of the spurges,” funded by the 
Planetary Biodiversity Inventory program of the U.S. National Science 
Foundation. The project began in October 2006 and will run for five 
years, with the participation of an international team of collaborators 
led by Paul E. Berry (University of Michigan, Ann Arbor) and co-PIs 
Kenneth J. Wurdack (Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC), David 
Baum (University of Wisconsin), and Reed Beaman and Nico Cellinese 
(Yale University).

Euphorbia is distributed worldwide and is one of the largest angiosperm 
genera, with over 2000 species. The genus achieves its greatest 
diversity in arid areas of Africa and Madagascar, where many species 
are cactus-like succulents. Many of the species are rare and 
endangered, and it is the only genus known to contain all three major 
photosynthetic systems (C3, C4, and CAM). The goals of the project are 
to provide a comprehensive monograph of the genus in a five-year period 
through appropriate field exploration, study of museum and living 
collections, bioinformatic tools, molecular systematics, and floral 
developmental studies.

We encourage prospective students to contact Paul Berry at peberry [at] 
umich [dot] edu or visit his website at 
http://www.eeb.lsa.umich.edu/eeb/people/peberry/index.html and to apply 
to the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Graduate Program at the 
University of Michigan – Ann Arbor. For information on candidate 
requirements and application deadline see:
http://www.eeb.lsa.umich.edu/eeb/graduates/prospective.html. Note that 
the recommended deadline for applying to enter in the fall of 2007 is 
December 1 of this year.


-- 
Ricarda Riina
University of Michigan
Dept of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (EEB)
2035 Kraus Natural Sciences Bldg
830 N University Ave
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1048 (USA)
phone(734)936-3335