University of Washington graduate research in Paleobiology

The Strömberg lab (http://depts.washington.edu/strmbrgl/StrombergLab_website/Home.html) in the Biology Department at the University of Washington, Seattle, is seeking motivated prospective graduate students with an interest in paleoecology, paleobotany, and climate change. The UW has a growing paleobiology program (http://depts.washington.edu/paleobio/Welcome.html) with ten faculty and several other active researchers in paleobotany, vertebrate and invertebrate paleontology, and paleoanthropology.

Graduate student RA-ships are available for two projects in particular: (1) the spread of C4 grasslands in the Great Plains, what drove this ecological shift and how it affected faunas, and (2) biotic repsonses to the Middle Miocene Climatic Optimum at high southern latitudes. Both projects involve fieldwork to collect samples, study of plant silica fossils (phytoliths) to reconstruct vegetation patterns through time and space, and paleoecological analysis.

Interested prospective students should contact me directly, preferably via email (caestrom@uw.edu; other contact info below).