The Kapheim Lab at Utah State University is seeking graduate students (MS or PhD) to join the Biology Department in Fall 2016.
Research in the Kapheim lab addresses the evolutionary processes responsible for the diversity and plasticity of complex traits. The primary focus of this research is the evolution of social behavior in bees. We seek to understand the developmental and sociogenomic mechanisms underlying behavior to better understand how it evolves. Our research is integrated across sub-disciplines of biology, including evolutionary biology, behavioral ecology, comparative genomics and transcriptomics, neuroscience, physiology, and metagenomics.
Graduate students will have the opportunity to develop research projects within the major research themes of the lab. This will likely involve a combination of field, lab, and computational work. Students who find this opportunity to be a good fit will have an interest in developing skills in a combination of these activities, as well as an interest in bees and integrative evolutionary biology. Graduate students will have the opportunity to conduct field work in Panama or in the U.S.
Institutional Support
The USU Department of Biology is home to a superb faculty with a diverse set of research interests that provides training in evolutionary biology, ecology, cell and molecular biology, neuroscience, and microbiology, among other topics. The Logan-based USDA Bee Biology and Systematics Laboratory is just down the road from campus, and offers opportunity for collaborative research with biologists studying a diverse set of questions related to bee biology. The Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) in Panama, a potential location for field work, hosts world-class staff scientists, as well as thousands of international visiting researchers and provides several fellowship opportunities to graduate students.
Financial Support
Accepted full-time graduate students receive comprehensive funding packages that include stipends, tuition, and health benefits in the form of graduate research assistantships and teaching assistantships. Additional funding is available for research.
Life in Logan, UT
USU is located in northern Utah's Cache Valley. Situated between two mountain ranges and next to beautiful Logan Canyon, there are plenty of opportunities for field work, as well as outdoor recreation, in and around Logan.
Application Information
For more information about research in the Kapheim Lab, visit www.kapheimlab.com. Information about graduate studies at USU is available on the Department of Biology website (www.biology.usu.edu). Pre-applications are due December 15. Full applications are due January 15.
Interested candidates should contact Dr. Karen Kapheim (karen.kapheim@usu.edu) with a statement of research interests, CV, and contact information for references
Karen M. Kapheim
Assistant Professor
Utah State University
Department of Biology
5305 Old Main Hill
Logan, UT 84322-5305
USA
+1 (435) 797-0685
karen.kapheim@usu.edu