Paleonet: PhD studentship on Plio-Pleistocene dinoflagellate cysts and paleoceanography of the Pacific

[Martin Head]

A funded PhD studentship is available on:
 Plio-Pleistocene dinoflagellate cysts and paleoceanography of the northern and western Pacific
in the Department of Earth Sciences, University of Toronto, Canada

Application deadline: January 17, 2016.

Description of PhD project:
The northern Pacific appears to have supplied moisture to North America 2.74 million years ago, causing the growth of major ice sheets and transforming our planet into an “icehouse” world just prior to the start of the Quaternary.  Several interlinked projects are available utilizing deep-sea cores along a transect from the Bering Sea to the South China Sea.  These projects aim to elucidate the Pacific Ocean’s role in, and response to, climate evolution during the Neogene-Quaternary transition. Research specifically addresses ice sheet expansion 2.7-2.5 Ma, and examines changes in the associated surface currents of the northern and western Pacific. It also explores teleconnections between high northern-latitude ice sheets and the East Asian winter monsoon system, as reflected in sediments of the marginal Sea of Japan and South China Sea. The research primarily uses dinoflagellate cysts but integrated where possible with foraminiferal geochemistry and alkenone paleothermometry.

The research program is under the supervision of Prof. Martin J. Head, and some projects are in collaboration with Dr Stijn De Schepper (Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research, Bergen, Norway), and Dr Jeroen Groeneveld (University of Bremen, Germany).  The studentship is scheduled to begin September, 2016.

How to apply:
The on-line application for admission is at:
http://www.es.utoronto.ca/programs/graduate/how-to-apply/

Note that the completed online application and ALL supporting documents (transcripts, letters of recommendation, results of language proficiency tests, etc.) must be received by the deadline of January 17, 2016.

Do check the on-line application for admission NOW to determine how much time is needed to assemble all the necessary documentation, and arrange if necessary for a language proficiency test.  Please contact Prof. Martin J. Head (mjhead at brocku.ca<mailto:mjhead at brocku.ca>) for details of the projects available, and Ms Lynn Slotkin (slotkin at es.utoronto.ca<mailto:slotkin at es.utoronto.ca>) for any questions regarding the application procedure.

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Martin J. Head, PhD CGeol
Professor
Department of Earth Sciences
Brock University
500 Glenridge Avenue
St. Catharines
Ontario L2S 3A1
CANADA

Professor (status only), Department of Earth Sciences, University of Toronto, Canada
Life Member, Wolfson College, University of Cambridge, UK
Chair: ICS Subcommission on Quaternary Stratigraphy: http://www.quaternary.stratigraphy.org.uk

Email: mjhead at brocku.ca<mailto:mjhead at brocku.ca>
Home page: http://www.brocku.ca/mathematics-science/departments-and-centres/earth-sciences/people/faculty/martin-j-head

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