Status, distribution, and dynamics of marine biodiversity

The University of Sheffield seeks students to study the distribution and dynamics of marine biodiversity. This role involves a macroecological approach to analyze large marine biodiversity databases, focusing on specific regions or taxonomic groups. Students will gain advanced skills in biodiversity data science, particularly using R, and explore new technologies like environmental DNA. The position is full-time and based in the United Kingdom.
Marine biodiversity is essential to the functioning of the Earth’s ecosystems, and supports a range of ecosystem services including food production, climate regulation, and cultural values. It is also threatened by numerous human activities, from fishing to climate change. Effective conservation and management of marine ecosystems requires that we understand the dynamics of marine biodiversity in both space and time. We take a macroecological approach to addressing this challenge, mining large databases of marine biodiversity data to understand the ecological, evolutionary, and environmental factors that drive differences in biodiversity over space and changes through time, and the relevance of these to conservation planning and management. Students will tackle specific questions regarding the distribution and dynamics of marine biodiversity in a focal region (up to global) and/or of a particular taxonomic or functional group (e.g. gastropod molluscs, benthic macroinvertebrates). They will develop advanced skills in biodiversity data science, especially in the statistical computing environment R. Opportunities also exist to harvest the power of the new technologies revolutionising the study of marine biodiversity - for example environmental DNA.