The Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB) is the largest research institute for freshwater ecology and inland fisheries in Germany (www.igb-berlin.de). It is a member of the Forschungsverbund Berlin e.V. (FVB) and the Leibniz-Association. The FVB manages 8 large research institutes in Berlin that have close links to all three universities in the German capital. IGB offers excellent laboratory and field facilities for interdisciplinary research, large-scale experimental facilities, and long-term research programs and data sets.
IGB in the IFishMan research group by Prof. Dr. Robert Arlinghaus invites applications for a PhD student in Recreational Angler Behaviour in Freshwater Landscapes
The position is available as soon as possible and earliest by May, 01, 2019 and is limited to 3 years. The PhD position forms part of the multi-investigator AQUATAG project, entitled "Recreation activities in inland waters: dynamics, ecological impacts, social significance and sustainable management" funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) (for concept, see Venohr et al. (2018), Environ. Rev. 26:199-213). AQUATAG constitutes a social-ecological project that studies the interactions between diverse recreational uses of freshwaters from ecological, economic and social perspectives. The research approach is broad, yet very applied, involving data analysis of social media, on-site and off-site surveys, ecological field surveys and integrated spatial modelling.
The objective of the PhD project in the AQUATAG’s social and economic workpackage is to better understand the behavioural decisions of recreational anglers in different freshwater landscapes across spatial scales in Germany. The angler subproject takes advantage of already collected stated (survey) and revealed preference data (diary data) from large-N angler surveys in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Lower Saxony. The task is to understand the preferences that anglers have for different attributes of the fishing experience, formally describe the site choice processes of different angler types and subsequently construct and study integrated landscape models of fish stock-angler interactions. The models will be used to examine policy and management questions on how to best manage recreational fisheries in landscapes while accounting for human behavioural responses and ecological impacts. An example simulation study is Matsumura et al. (2017), doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/227744. The angler subproject is co-supervised by Dr. Jürgen Meyerhoff (Technical University Berlin) and will further benefit from already existing collaborations with economists, human dimension specialists and modellers.
The desired competencies of the candidate are:
- Masters in fisheries science, ecological/environmental/resource economics, agricultural economics, human geography, environmental science, sustainability science, natural resource management or a related degree
- Quantitative and econometric/statistical modelling skills, ideally in stated or revealed preference choice modelling, spatial simulation modelling or spatial statistics
- Knowledge of geographic information systems
- English and ideally also German communication skills (oral, written)
- Experience with recreational fisheries is a bonus
The PhD student will be graduated through the Faculty of Life Sciences, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. Salary is paid according to the TVöD (66 % position). In keeping with the IGB's policy regarding gender equality, female applicants are particularly encouraged. Severely disabled applicants with equal qualification and aptitude are given preferential consideration.
How to apply?
We seek an exclusively electronic application consisting of a single combined PDF file that includes: cover letter (max. 1 page), letter of motivation (max. 2 pages), curriculum vitae, max. 2 representative publications (or master/bachelor thesis as copy), copies of relevant certificates as well as names and contact addresses of up to three reviewers. Please upload your application via the IGB’s online job-application facility (https://www.igb-berlin.de/stellenangebote). The application deadline is 15.02.2019.
Enquiries or questions should be directed to Prof. Dr. Robert Arlinghaus (+49-30-64181-653, arlinghaus@igb-berlin.de, for details on the working group, see www.ifishman.de).
We are looking forward to your application!