Snowshoe Hare Distribution in Pennsylvania

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Agency

Pennsylvania Cooperative Fish & Wildlife Research Unit, Pennsylvania State University

Location

State College, PA

Job Category

Graduate Assistantships

Salary

approx. $30,000/yr plus health benefits

Start Date

08/01/2022

Last Date to Apply

01/15/2022

Description

This M.S. position will begin in August 2022 and provides 2.5 years of assistantship support and a full tuition waiver. The graduate student will supervise 2-4 field technicians who will assist with data collection. The snowshoe hare is a species of special concern in Pennsylvania and the Pennsylvania Game Commission is interested in identifying habitat management actions that can increase the resiliency of snowshoe hare populations to the effects of climate change. This project will test predictions of the effects of climate change based on research on the distribution of hares conducted in 2004 (https://doi.org/10.1656/045.023.0205). In addition, spatial mark-recapture methods will be used to identify environmental covariates that are related to population density on public and industrial forest lands in northern Pennsylvania. Distribution and abundance will be estimated using genetic analysis of fecal pellets to identify presence of hares and identify individuals for spatial mark-recapture density estimation.

Qualifications

Requires a B.S. degree in a natural resource related discipline. Demonstrated ability to conduct fieldwork. Strong organizational skills required to supervise technicians who will survey for hares across northern Pennsylvania. The student will use occupancy models to estimate hare distribution and spatially-explicit capture-recapture methods to estimate density. An interest in applying quantitative methods for assessing population status is essential. Experience in a genetics lab with extracting DNA and analyzing results is a plus but not required. To apply, send a single pdf document that contains a cover letter, CV, contact information for 3 references, and unofficial copies of your transcripts to Duane Diefenbach at [email protected]

Contact Person

Duane R. Diefenbach

Contact eMail

[email protected]

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