Three PhD opportunities at Montana State University investigating saline sub-ice systems
- Employer
- Montana State University
- Location
- Bozeman, Montana
- Posted
- Dec 18, 2020
- Closes
- Jan 17, 2021
- Discipline
- Biogeosciences, Cryosphere Sciences, Geochemistry, Interdisciplinary/Other, Near Surface Geophysics, Planetary Sciences
- Career Level
- Student / Graduate
- Education Level
- Bachelors
- Relocation Cost
- No Relocation
- Sector Type
- Academia
Three PhD studentship positions are available at Montana State University, associated with a recently funded NASA Planetary Science and Technology Through Analog Research (PSTAR) project titled “Exploration of Saline Cryospheric Habitats with Europa Relevance (ESCHER): An approach using airborne and submarine semiautonomous systems.”
The ESCHER project is interdisciplinary and led by Principal Investigator Mark Skidmore at Montana State University, with additional co-investigators at Montana State University, University of Texas Institute for Geophysics and Stone Aerospace. The research approach capitalizes on remote sensing and in situ sampling technologies in combination with numerical modeling to understand the geophysical, geochemical, and microbiological properties of sub-ice, hypersaline systems in the Canadian Arctic that are hypothesized to be analogs to brine-rich systems on ocean worlds. See link below to the project abstract.
The research foci of the PhD positions are biogeochemistry, airborne geophysics, and microbiology
1. Biogeochemistry. Supervisor Mark Skidmore (Earth Sciences)
Email: skidmore@montana.edu
2. Airborne geophysics. co-supervisor Donald Blankenship (Earth Sciences), co-supervisor, Mark Skidmore (Earth Sciences)
Email: drddblank1@gmail.com
3. Microbiology. Supervisor Eric Boyd (Microbiology and Immunology)
Email: eric.boyd@montana.edu
Interested students are encouraged to contact individual supervisors listed via email, with a CV and a statement indicating how their research interests/expertise/experience align with the research project.
Further information on the Departments at Montana State University can be found at:-
https://www.montana.edu/earthsciences/
http://geoboydology.com/