Master’s student – Arctic Organismal Physiology - Research Affiliate Program

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Assessment accommodation

Duties

The candidate will conduct lab and field work out of the Maurice-Lamontagne Institute, Mont-Joli, Quebec, under the joint supervision of Dr. David Deslauriers (Ph. D.) and Dr. Chris McKindsey (Ph. D.) (Fisheries and Oceans Canada).

Task overview:
- Design and conduct a physiological experiment for live subarctic intertidal organisms in Hudson Bay.
- Transport and care for live organisms to be transported from the environment to a research station where environmental exposure experiments will take place.
- Interact with Hudson Bay community members 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 Mont Joli’s Maurice-Lamontagne Institute (DFO), Winnipeg’ Freshwater Institute (DFO), and UQAR as well as other researchers involved in the HBC results fund project.
- Analyze and interpret data and publish results in government reports and peer-reviewed journals.

Work environment

The Quebec Region encompasses more than 6 000 km of coastline running along the river, the estuary and part of the Gulf of St. Lawrence as well as Nunavik (Ungava Bay, eastern James Bay, eastern Hudson Bay and the southern part of Hudson Strait). Scientific teams monitor biodiversity and ecosystem status, including research on aquatic invasive species, fish stocks and marine mammals, and ocean ecosystem dynamics. Work is also done on climate change and environmental stressors, the impact of human activity on the environment, and research on species at risk. Arctic Research is based out of the Maurice-Lamontagne Institute in Mont-Joli, Quebec.

This project will focus on collecting nearshore organisms from a field site in Hudson Bay and performing respirometry experiments in an adjacent lab setting. These measurements will be part of a larger project understanding the stressors of changing arctic environments that serve as vital links for the food web structure and ecosystem processes in Hudson Bay. In particular, we will be focusing our work on understanding the impacts ocean warming can have on the nearshore environment. 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.

Intent of the process

It is expected that the student work 22 hours per week.
This work term will end on April 30, 2022.

Positions to be filled: 1

Information you must provide

Your résumé.

A covering letter in 5,000 words (maximum) "Applicants must clearly demonstrate in their application how they meet the education and experience criteria outlined in the essential qualifications. Applicants must use each essential education and experience criteria as a header and then write one or two paragraphs for each criteria demonstrating how they meet the required education and experience. Resumes may be used as a secondary source to validate the information described in the cover letter. Failure to provide this information in the requested format may result in your application being rejected. Applicants are asked to take the same approach to describe their education and experiences of the asset qualifications (other qualifications)."

Contact information for 2 references.

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

EDUCATION
Hold a degree from a recognized post-secondary institution with specialization in a biological science.

Currently enrolled or eligible to be enrolled in May 2020 in the Master of Oceanography program at the Université du Québec à Rimouski’s Institut des sciences de la mer de Rimouski.

Degree equivalency

EXPERIENCE
Experience with laboratory and field techniques.
Experience conducting physiological experiments.
Experience working in Northern environments (sub-arctic, arctic).
Experience in use of statistical software (R).
Experience in communicating research findings in writing and verbally.
Experience working with research teams.
Experience in collecting, synthesizing, reporting and interpreting scientific data and information.

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

English or French

Information on language requirements

KNOWLEDGE
Knowledge of ecology, biology, or physiology of common marine organisms.

PERSONAL SUITABILITY
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 designated groups when you apply.

Information on employment equity

Interviews may be conducted by telephone or videoconference.

Reference checks may be sought.

You must provide proof of your education credentials.

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.