Master’s student – Arctic Clam Population Physiology - Research Affiliate Program

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Information on accommodation for persons with disabilities

The candidate will be required to be registered as an MSc student in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Manitoba under the supervision of Dr. Ken Jeffries (Ph. D.) and will conduct lab and field work out of the Fresh Water Institute under the joint supervision of Dr. Ken Jeffries (Ph. D.) and Dr. David Deslauriers (Ph. D.) (Fisheries and Oceans Canada).

When submitting an application to this selection process, you will be prompted to answer screening questions concerning the essential education and experience qualifications and, if applicable, other (non-essential) qualifications. When answering these questions, please provide detailed, concrete examples that clearly demonstrate how you meet the requirement. Failure to clearly substantiate how you meet the screening criteria may result in the rejection of your application. Candidates will not be solicited for incomplete or possible missing information.

Duties

- Design and conduct a sampling protocol for clams in Frobisher Bay.
- Transport and care for live clams to be brought back at the Freshwater Institute for temperature and acidification exposure experiments.
- Design and conduct laboratory exposure experiments on live organisms.
- Interact with community members in Iqaluit by answering questions, addressing concerns, and presenting results on an annual basis.
- Present main study results at the end of the two-year period at one International conference.
- Collaborate and interact with other researchers from the Coastal Environmental Baseline Monitoring Program in Frobisher Bay.
- Analyze and interpret data, and publish results in government reports and peer-reviewed journals.

Work environment

The Arctic Aquatic Research Division of Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) is based at the Freshwater Institute in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Division provides information and advice to support the management of Arctic fisheries resources, their habitat and Marine Protected Areas (MPA) in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut, and on the Yukon North Slope. Successful management and conservation of these resources depends on acquiring, interpreting and sharing biological information, the processes affecting them and the ecosystem of which they are part.

In this project, the focus will be on clams, which are important organisms harvested by communities in Nunavut, and serve as vital links for the food web structure in Frobisher Bay, Nunavut. Clams can also serve as indicators for environmental changes that are predicted to occur in the proximate future. In particular, we will be focusing our work on understanding the impacts ocean warming and acidification can have on the growth and development of clams and how these effects interact with biotoxin accumulation as a result of wastewater effluent inputs to the system. We are proposing to test for these impacts at the genomic, phenotypic, and population levels to provide a mechanistic representation of the processes at play. Field collection of empirical data combined with laboratory experiments will be used to address the study objectives.

Positions to be filled: 1

Information you must provide

Your résumé.

Contact information for 2 references.

In order to be considered, your application must clearly explain how you meet the following (essential qualifications)

Possess a Bachelor's in Biology, Environmental Sciences or Resource Management from a recognized post-secondary institution.

Currently enrolled or eligible to be enrolled in January 2019 in the Master of Science program in the University of Manitoba’s Department of Biological Sciences.

Note: Applied research must be a requirement of graduation
Maintaining your student status is a condition of employment. Once you have defended your thesis you are no longer eligible for the program.

Degree equivalency

- Experience with laboratory techniques
- Experience collecting, tabulating, analyzing and reporting scientific data
- Experience in communicating research findings in writing and verbally
- Experience working with research teams
- Experience in collecting, synthesizing and interpreting scientific information.

The following will be applied / assessed at a later date (essential for the job)

English essential

Information on language requirements

- Knowledge of ecology, biology, or physiology of common marine organisms

- Initiative
- Adaptability
- Organized
- Independent
- Critical thinking

Conditions of employment

Reliability Status security clearance

- Valid Health Canada medical
- Willingness to travel and work from remote areas for up to a month
- Willingness to work on evenings and weekends on occasion

Other information

The Public Service of Canada is committed to building a skilled and diverse workforce that reflects the Canadians we serve. We promote employment equity and encourage you to indicate if you belong to one of the targeted groups when you apply.

Information on employment equity

Interviews may be conducted in Winnipeg, MB or remotely by telephone. Candidates from outside the Federal Public Service will be required to pay for their own travel expenses.

Reference checks may be sought.

An alternative format (such as Braille) of this notice and Statement of Merit Criteria are available upon request.

Candidates invited to attend an interview will be required to bring proof of their education credentials, in the form of a diploma or official transcript (original documents only).

Candidates with foreign credentials must provide proof of Canadian equivalency. Consult the Canadian Information Centre for International Credentials for further information at http://www.cicic.ca/indexe.stm.

Candidates will be communicated with via e-mail. In your application, please include the e-mail address that you wish to use for communication purposes throughout this recruitment initiative. It is your responsibility to verify your e-mail account on a regular basis.

Persons with disabilities preventing them from applying on-line, are asked to contact us toll free at 1-800-645-5605 and press '0' for assistance.

Please apply online.

Preference

Preference will be given to Canadian citizens.

We thank all those who apply. Only those selected for further consideration will be contacted.