PhD Level Graduate Student Position – Modeling the role of Rhizaria in the ocean carbon cycle
Jacob Cram’s research group at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science is recruiting a graduate student to pursue a PhD starting in Fall 2024. The student will undertake NSF-funded research modeling the role of a diverse class of microorganisms, the Rhizaria, in the ocean carbon cycle.
The Program: The student will matriculate in the Marine, Estuarine and Environmental Science Program (MEES), an inter-institutional, interdisciplinary program. While the student’s office will be at Horn Point Laboratory, PhD classes are offered in person and virtually by professors across MEES.
The Project: This project focuses on developing a computer model of the biological pump constrained by data to be collected from the Atlantic Ocean near Bermuda.
In the biological pump, sinking organic particles formed by phytoplankton transport carbon from the atmosphere into the deep ocean. We hypothesize that Rhizaria, a diverse group of microscopic organisms, affect the carbon cycle in three ways: (1) by consuming and respiring sinking particles (2) by contributing heavy silicate and carbonate to particles in the surface ocean, causing those particles to sink more quickly (3) by dying and sinking directly, thereby becoming sinking particles themselves.
In this project, Cram and the student will together incorporate these three potential roles of Rhizaria into existing particle sinking models. While the focus of this project is modeling, the student will work with teams led by Joshua Stone (University of South Carolina) and Leocadio Blanco Bercal (Arizona State University & Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences) to collect data about Rhizaria distributions, diversity and elemental compositions via ship-based field collection.
Qualifications:
- A bachelor's degree or higher in any field
- Prior experience conducting independent research
- Strong computational or mathematical skills, with a preference for familiarity with the R programming language
- Enthusiasm for conducting PhD-level research involving significant computational model development and data synthesis
- Proficiency in reading scientific literature
- A willingness to become proficient in oceanographic concepts during your studies
How to Apply: To be considered for this project, please contact Jacob Cram (jcram@umces.edu) with a statement of interest describing your research interests, experience, and career goals. Please also include your CV and an unofficial transcript. Strong applicants will be interviewed and then will be encouraged to apply to the MEES graduate program. Provisional admission to the graduate program is a requirement for acceptance into this project.
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