MS and PhD student positions: coupled natural and human systems

Masters:

The School of Marine Sciences at the University of Maine is seeking a to enroll a student as early as May or June 2010 in the dual masters degree in marine science and policy. The student will study and work on a strongly interdisciplinary research project funded by the Coupled Natural and Human Systems program within NSF. A competitive stipend, tuition, health and student fees will be provided for three years. The project combines the work of social, biological and computer scientists and will develop agent-based learning models meant to simulate the fine scale dynamics of social and natural systems in three fisheries in the Gulf of Maine.

We seek a student with training in the social sciences and some knowledge of marine biology or ecology. The student must be research oriented and enthusiastic about working and learning in a multidisciplinary team. The student will participate in a set of research tasks that will include in-depth interviews and focus groups with fishermen and the translation of conceptual models into computational models. Training in computer science will be considered a plus.

------------------------------

Ph.D.:

The School of Marine Sciences at the University of Maine is seeking to enroll a Ph.D. student as early as May or June 2010 with a strong masters level or applied background in computer science, ecology or the social sciences and an interest in applying those skills to an integrated social-ecological study of the Gulf of Maine fisheries. Stipend, tuition, health and other fees will be funded for three years by a grant from the NSF Coupled Natural and Human Systems program. The student will be engaged in the design and implementation of a multi-agent learning classifier system and will work closely with economists, ecologists, anthropologists and computer scientists. The ideal candidate?s skill set would include knowledge and experience in
the design and implementation of programs using object based programming languages, JAVA or C++, knowledge of evolutionary computational approaches and of statistics (using R), as well as experience designing and implementing Agent Based computational models using ABM platforms such as Repast.

Contact James Wilson, jwilson@maine.edu.