Microbial processes that regulate the production of CO2 and CH4 in the ponds formed by melting of permafrost. Position type: PhD or Master position
Required citizenship: none
Prerequesites: Academic formation and practical research experience in one of the following disciplines: biology, microbiology, ecology, limnology or oceanography. The candidate will be invited to apply to scholarship programs.
Link: http://www.inrs-ete.uquebec.ca/
Job description: PhD or Master project offer: The microbial processes that regulate the production of CO2 and CH4 in the ponds formed by the melting of permafrost (respiration, methanogenesis, methanotrophy) and the factors sensitive to climate that control these processes in order to estimate the response of these systems to global climate change.
ArcticNet Project: Freshwater resources of the Eastern Canadian Arctic: quantity, quality and indicators of ecological change Participants: Warwick F. Vincent (University Laval, structure and dynamics of polar aquatic ecosystems), Isabelle Laurion (INRS-ETE, tundra lake-wetland metabolism), Connie Lovejoy (University Laval, biodiversity and ecological function of aquatic microbes), Reinhard Pienitz (University Laval, paleomonitoring of aquatic ecosystems), Kathy Young (York University, snowfall and water balance of wetlands).
Global objectives of the team: Identify northern aquatic indicators of change, document past and present changes in the eastern Arctic aquatic environment, identify present vulnerabilities in northern freshwater resources, develop impact models, identify links between environmental change and Inuit health/societal impacts, compare the regional climate predictions with palaeolimnological records of the variability among regional responses to climate that actually occurred in the past.
Research context: Close to a quarter of northern hemisphere is covered by permafrost, a region where more than half of the organic carbon on Earth is stored. With the warming climate, the permafrost is melting which liberates this carbon that becomes available to microbial and photochemical transformations. The melting of permafrost creates the formation of lakes and ponds that are quite diverse and present high microbial productivity by comparison to oligotrophic lakes more typical of these regions. In these systems exposed to high solar irradiance during the polar summer, photochemical processes can accelerate the microbial utilisation of dissolved organic carbon or directly produce CO2. Northern regions can thus participate to the global climate through a positive feedback mechanism. It is necessary to better understand the processes that regulate this new circulation of carbon in the polar regions, but also to know the actual state of these systems in order to follow the changes that they will be experiencing. Microbial communities in polar ecosystems and their function in carbon cycling are not very well known even though they are often dominating in these regions. Theses communities play an important role on the production of greenhouse gases and in the transformation and sequestration of carbon.
Study sites: Two sites can be sampled: 1- Nunavik (Quebec, Canada) close to the village of Whapmagoostui-Kuujjuarapik on the discontinuous permafrost region, 2- Nunavut National Park Sirmilik, close to the village of Pond Inlet (Canada) in the continuous permafrost region.
What we are offering: A specialised formation in polar limnology, an occasion to realise a research project in a modern institute and participate to a large network of researchers interested to the North, an unforgettable experience in magnificent places.
Starting date of project: May 2009 or before.
Contact person: Prof. Isabelle Laurion, INRS-ETE, Quebec, Canada. Email:
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