PhD opportunity

Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology (DICE), University of Kent



Applications are invited for this 3-year, funded PhD studentship, which will
start in September 2009 and be co-hosted by DICE
(http://www.kent.ac.uk/anthropology/dice/) at the University of Kent's
Canterbury campus and Ifremer (http://www.ifremer.fr), the French Research
Institute for Exploitation of the Sea, at their centre in Boulogne-sur-Mer.
This important project, supervised by Dr Bob Smith and Professor Stuart
Harrop from DICE and Dr Sandrine Vaz from Ifremer, will be part of ongoing
work to develop marine protected area systems in the Eastern English
Channel.

Project Outline
Many marine ecosystems are under severe anthropogenic pressure.
Consequently, governments are responding by developing marine protected area
(MPA) systems, with the aim of conserving biodiversity and protecting fish
stocks. Since 2004, the CHARM project (Channel Habitat Atlas for Marine
Resource Management) has collected a range of biological, economic, legal
and social data to help inform management of the Eastern English Channel.
This PhD project will build on this and develop approaches to inform ongoing
MPA designation initiatives in the region and elsewhere. In particular, it
will focus on:

1) Setting numerical targets for conserving important species and habitat
types based on biological and legal requirements.

2) Developing techniques for incorporating biodiversity, policy and social
data into a systematic conservation planning assessment for the Eastern
English Channel

3) Modelling the impacts of different MPA network scenarios on biodiversity,
fish stocks and fishing effort.

Application details
The successful candidate will have a good degree in a relevant subject, a
keen interest in marine conservation and interdisciplinary research, and
excellent quantitative analytical skills. Proficiency in French and
experience with using the ArcGIS and Marxan software packages would be an
advantage.

The PhD Studentship covers tuition fees at Home/EU rates and pays an annual
stipend of ?13,000. The student will be co-hosted by DICE and Ifremer and
will spend approximately two thirds of their time in Canterbury and one
third in Boulogne-sur-Mer.

To apply, please send a CV and a covering letter detailing your research
interests, and giving the names of two referees who can be contacted when
short-listing, by 8th June 2009 to Dr Bob Smith (R.J.Smith@kent.ac.uk). We
will hold interviews shortly thereafter. Informal enquiries can also be made
to Dr Bob Smith by email or phone on +44 (0)1227 823455.