<div dir="ltr"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">Date: Thu, 16 Oct 2014 16:59:56 -0400</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">From: =?windows-1252?Q?Jennifer_</span><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">Balch?= <</span><a href="mailto:jkbalch@PSU.EDU" style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">jkbalch@PSU.EDU</a><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">></span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">Subject: PhD positions at the University of Colorado-Boulder: Changing fire dynamics across ecosystems</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">PhD positions are available in Dr. Balch=92s Fire Works lab at the Univer=</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">sity</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">of Colorado-Boulder for the fall 2015 semester.=20</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">APPLICATIONS TO THE DEPARTMENT OF GEOGRAPHY ARE DUE </span><span class="" tabindex="0" style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><span class="">DECEMBER 1st</span></span><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">.</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">Research in the lab focuses on the intersection of disturbance dynamics,</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">ecosystem thresholds, and coupled human-natural systems. We examine how</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">global environmental change=97including shifting fire cycles=97alters pla=</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">nt</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">communities and ecosystem function. Our research balances cutting-edge</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">fieldwork with analysis of global ecological data to examine how human</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">changes to fire patterns are encouraging forest-savanna transitions,</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">degrading ecosystems, and increasing greenhouse gas emissions. Together w=</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">ith</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">an international community of collaborators, we work across disciplines a=</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">nd</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">scales=97from individual organisms to entire ecosystems.</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">One PhD position will be part of a larger collaborative project exploring=</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">the climate and land use drivers of invasive-grass fueled fires across th=</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">e</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">western U.S. Non-native, invasive grasses are increasing fire activity</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">globally, yet the mechanisms driving the initiation and perpetuation of</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">novel fire regimes remain largely unknown. This project will use remote</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">sensing and spatial analysis to investigate the climate and land-use</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">mechanisms that promote fires in invaded and native ecosystems=97for one =</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">of</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">the most prominent cases of a potentially irreversible grass-fire cycle.</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">Cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum), which was introduced to North America in th=</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">e</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">mid-1800s, now dominates over 40,000 km2 of the intermountain west. This</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">collaborative research project will address the following questions about=</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">how climate, land use, and fire interact across invaded and native</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">ecosystems of the intermountain west: i) How do fire regimes and fire</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">probability vary in invaded and native ecosystems? ii) What are the clima=</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">te</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">and land-use predictors of fire activity in these landscapes? iii) What i=</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">s</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">the geography of current and future fire risk, under mid-century climate =</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">and</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">land-use change scenarios? (This position will be supported through a</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">NASA-supported Research Assistantship and department Teaching Assistantsh=</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">ip,</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">which cover tuition and stipends.)</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">Other PhD opportunities exist on changing fire dynamics, but are dependen=</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">t</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">on strong student initiative and creativity. Please see my website for ot=</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">her</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">current research themes. I am open to student proposals to explore questi=</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">ons</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">within the scope of my overall research program. There are opportunities =</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">for</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">highly competitive students to get support via Teaching Assistantships, o=</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">r</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">other outside funding.=20</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">Applicants should have a Bachelor=92s or Master=92s degree in ecology,</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">geography, biology, forestry, or other field related to environmental</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">studies. Prior research experience, particularly using remote sensing dat=</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">a</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">or GIS is a plus.</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">Please see my website: </span><a href="http://www.nceas.ucsb.edu/~balch" target="_blank" style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">www.nceas.ucsb.edu/~balch</a><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">The PhD students will be enrolled in the Department of Geography at</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">CU-Boulder: </span><a href="http://geography.colorado.edu/" target="_blank" style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">http://geography.colorado.edu</a><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">See here for how to apply:</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><a href="http://geography.colorado.edu/grad_program/admissions_and_applications" target="_blank" style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">http://geography.colorado.edu/grad_program/admissions_and_applications</a><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">APPLICATIONS TO THE DEPARTMENT OF GEOGRAPHY ARE DUE </span><span class="" tabindex="0" style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><span class="">DECEMBER 1st</span></span><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">.</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">If you are interested in working with me as a PhD student, please send me=</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"> i)</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">a paragraph or two telling me what types of research questions you are</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">interested in; ii) a brief description of your career goals or what you h=</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">ope</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">to get out of graduate school; iii) your c.v.; iv) an "unofficial"</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">transcript; v) =93unofficial=94 GRE scores; and vi) a writing sample. (No=</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">te,</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">this requested information is separate from the formal application requir=</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">ed</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">by the Department of Geography.)</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">Best wishes,</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">Dr. Jennifer K. Balch</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">Assistant Professor</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">Department of Geography</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">The University of Colorado-Boulder</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">Boulder, CO 80309-0260</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">Email: </span><a href="mailto:jennifer.balch@colorado.edu" style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">jennifer.balch@colorado.edu</a><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">Twitter: Fire Works Lab @DrBalch</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">Website: </span><a href="http://www.nceas.ucsb.edu/~balch" target="_blank" style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">www.nceas.ucsb.edu/~balch</a><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><br><br>
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