• Great opportunity to work in a multi-disciplinary team focused on 3 key commercial fish species
• Address highly relevant research problems for Australia and beyond
• Join CSIRO - Australia's premier science & technology research organisation 

The Position
 

CSIRO offers PhD graduates an opportunity to launch their scientific careers through our Office of the Chief Executive (OCE) Postdoctoral Fellowships. Successful applicants will work with leaders in the field of science and receive personal development and learning opportunities.

Applications are invited for a three-year OCE Postdoctoral Fellowship to develop process-orientated evaluation tools that enable quantification and integration of physiological parameters, adaptation strategies, diet and other energy related parameters into ecosystem models.   The position will be based at CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research (CMAR) laboratories in Hobart, Australia.

The position will involve using innovative methods in lipid tracers, and bioenergetics and individual-based modeling with the aim to support existing ecosystem models, and strengthen the future capability to reliably assess and predict marine population dynamics to environmental change. The project will be multi-disciplinary and focused on 3 key commercial fish species within the commercially important South East Fishery sector, Australia. Project objectives address highly relevant research problems for Australia and beyond, with impact to the wider economy and to society.

Specifically you will:

• Develop and undertake lipid and fatty acid analyses and associated multivariate statistics to determine robust indicators of population performance (fitness/condition, growth and recruitment rates) and ecological health (e.g. trophic relationships and prey nutritional quality).
• Develop Dynamic Energy Budget (DEB) models and DEB-based structured population or individual-based models (IBMs) that will be driven by, or coupled with, existing whole-of-ecosystem models used by CMAR (primarily, Atlantis).
• Use lipid tracer techniques and DEB-based models to assess how environmental and internal factors shape and constrain the reproduction, growth and survival of individuals, and the dynamics of populations, and ecological processes.
• Run simulations to explore how life history factors effecting productivity (e.g. growth, survival and fecundity) are influenced by multiple stressors (e.g. climate change, fisheries, pollution).

Location:  Hobart, Tasmania
Salary:     $81K to $88K plus up to 15.4% Superannuation effective from 4/7/2013
Ref No:     TAS13/01627
Tenure:     3 years

To be successful you will have:

• A PhD in marine ecology, lipid biochemistry, and bioenergetics modelling, preferably on fish.
• Demonstrated knowledge, experience and innovation in signature lipid techniques, including extraction methods, operation of TLC-FID and GC/GC-MS instruments and appropriate.
• Demonstrated knowledge and experience in both Dynamic Energy Budget theory and modelling as well as individual-based, population models.
• Research experience with statistical analysis of ecological data, particularly lipids/fatty acids.
• Evidence of strong oral and written communication skills, including the ability to publish the results of scientific research in scientific journals.

Owing to terms of the fellowship, candidates must not have more than 3 years of relevant Postdoctoral experience.

Who we are: The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) is one of the largest and most diverse scientific organisations in the world. By igniting the creative spirit of our people, we deliver great science and innovative solutions that benefit industry, society and the environment.

Applications close on the 31st May 2013 (at 11:30 AEST)

Position Details TAS13/01627