The Paris Saclay BASC LABEX offers a doctorate fellowship in environmental

The Paris Saclay BASC LABEX offers a doctorate fellowship in environmental
demogenetics

Place: CNRS LEGS Gif-sur-Yvette, France

Laboratory: DEEIT, activities in collaboration with other labs of BASC labex.

Director: Stéphane DUPAS

Profile
Master in evolutionary ecology, bioinformatics or biostatistics and
training in statistical inference, preferably in a Bayesian framework
and in random walks or Markov chains.

Deadline for application: August 15th 2014

Description
The development of new sequencing technologies brings markers for
the analysis of spatial dynamics of species. This large data can
allow to improve significantly models of species response to
environmental changes. Current model used, based on niche theory are
inferred from correlation between environmental variables and
species occurrences. They do not account for migration and adaptive
abilities of species, which can affect the responses. Genes are
markers of migration and adaptations. Inferring models of
biodiversity dynamics from genomic data constitutes therefore a new
challenge for population biology and ecology.

There is however no tool or statistical theory that integrate in a
single model of inference the stochastic (neutral model) and
deterministic (niche model) processes determining these distributions to
link spatial genetic data to environmental and connectivity variables
related to geography, climate or socioecosystem. In the flagship project
aiming to understand and improve adaptive abilities of socioecosystems,
the labex Biodiversity, Agriculture, Society, Climate (BASC) of Paris-
Saclay, wishes to train a doctorate in the area of integrative modeling
from gene to socioecosystem. The stochastic model is an extension from
on circuit theory model[1]. Inferred parameters concern both mechanisms
of connectivity and response to environment.

The task will consist in taking charge in collaboration of the
development of an inference tool of environmental demogenetic models and
to exploit several data sets. The project has three stages.

I – Finalization of the development of an inference tool assuming a
non changing environment. And valorization of the tool on several
genetic – environmental data sets on BASC insect, plant and plant
pathogens datasets.

II – The development of an inference tool that takes into account
spatial heterogeneity.

III – The construction of scenario for species response to
environmental changes and the evaluation of ecosystem services or
disservices provided by some practices or country planning, bsed on the
software SIMADAPT[2].

Contact
Three years fellowship will start in September 2014. Send CV and
cover letters before august 15th to dupas@legs.cnrs-gif.fr et
tenaillon@moulon.inra.fr.

For more information on the specific researches to be held, please
contact Stéphane Dupas, Phone : +33 1 69 82 37 25, dupas@legs.cnrs-gif.fr

References
[1] Dupas S, Le Ru B, Branca a et al. (2014) Phylogeography in
    continuous space: coupling species distribution models and circuit
    theory to assess the effect of contiguous migration at different
    climatic periods on genetic differentiation in Busseola fusca
    (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae). Molecular ecology, 33, 1–13.

[2] Rebaudo F, Le Rouzic A, Dupas S et al. (2013) SimAdapt: an individual-
    based genetic model for simulating landscape management impacts on
    populations (M Spencer, Ed,). Methods in Ecology and Evolution, 4,
    595–600.

Stephane DUPAS