The successful candidate will also be appointed as a Research Affiliate of GSC, which could possibly lead after graduation to a long-term appointment as a researcher with GSC.

The research project, to be carried out under the co-supervision of Gary Stern and Peter Outridge at CEOS, has the goal of reconstructing a Holocene-long record of changes in primary productivity for different regions of the Arctic Ocean and Canadian Arctic Archipelago, using sediment profiles of specific forms of organic carbon, biomarkers, and
mercury as productivity indicators. The research will involve arctic field work collecting marine sediment cores from the Amundsen research ice-breaker during the northern fall of 2008 and summer 2009, followed by laboratory analyses and interpretation of sedimentary organic carbon, mercury, and other biogeochemical parameters under the direction of Hamed Sanei at GSC Calgary, who will also co-supervise the PhD candidate. A background in or familiarity with carbon biogeochemistry, primary productivity, or environmental metals geochemistry would be an advantage. The ability to work successfully and carefully under strenuous field conditions and in the laboratory is essential, as is a willingness to think across traditional scientific boundaries. The candidate will be based primarily at CEOS as part of the large and dynamic ArcticNET graduate student group, and will also spend several months in Calgary during the course of the PhD.

Prospective applicants should contact Peter Outridge and Hamed Sanei for further information. Applications received prior to 28 February 2008, and those from Canadian citizens or landed immigrants, will be given preference.