Nippon Foundation Nereus Fellowship:
“Improving species range map methodologies for marine biodiversity”
The University of Cambridge and UNEP-WCMC have secured funding to provide full support to a PhD student for 3 years (subject to satisfactory progress) from 1 January 2012 under the Nereus Programme, a cooperation between The Nippon Foundation and The University of British Columbia, Canada. Nereus is a new programme designed to develop scientific capability for predicting future seafood production. The programme builds on international networking of scientists to communicate and bring about change to how we exploit the oceans in order for our children and grandchildren to enjoy seafood and experience a healthy ocean.
The goal to develop future ocean simulations is fundamentally dependent on the availability of reliable, spatially explicit databases of relevant data, which are global in extent and of appropriate spatial and temporal resolution to the policies and management decisions that they inform. 
This Nippon Foundation Nereus Fellowship provides funding to enable research into a) explore the transferability of methodological developments from the terrestrial to the marine environment and b) explore how best to bring modelling and expert-based approaches together to improve species distributions. As such, this research proposes to:
1.	Develop range maps using a number of algorithms, including adapting one or more from recent terrestrial science; and including expert-derived maps, and exploring the feasibility of using a Bayesian approach to the development of distribution maps using expert input as priors. This work will be highly collaborative with relevant partners.
2.	Carry out blind reviews by experts of all of these distribution maps to explore the relative performance and limitations of the different algorithms, and use these reviews to rank algorithms and develop an improved approach;
3.	Explore the relative reliability of expert judgment and modelling approaches to data poor problems, at a range of scales.
Candidates must have graduated at a University before 1 January 2012 and be eligible to pay University fees at the ‘home’ (UK/EU) rate. Consideration will normally be restricted to those who have obtained, or who have a strong prospect of obtaining, a first-class Honours degree (or its equivalent) and evidence of subsequent intellectual development – such as a Masters degree in a relevant field - will be taken into account. The prospective student should have extremely good computational and quantitative skills, preferably with experience in ecological niche modelling at large scales. An understanding of patterns and processes in marine ecology will be seen as advantageous. This will be a highly collaborative project and evidence of collaborative and interpersonal skills will be looked for in the successful applicant. 
Interviews will take place in Cambridge (or by skype conference call if necessary) on Tuesday, 20th September 2011. Following selection the successful applicant will be required to submit a complete, formal application to study towards a PhD in the Department of Geography, via the Board of Graduate Studies, no later than 30 September 2011. In this instance, applicants will be required to submit a paper application. Details on the applications process are available from the Board's website. http://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/offices/gradstud/prospec/apply/applynow/#paper
Suitably qualified candidates wishing to apply must submit: i) a covering letter stating why they are suitable for the project; ii) a CV; iii) a statement of research in relation to the Nereus project; and iv) the names of two academic referees who can be contacted by email.  It is important that referees will be able to supply a reference by 20th September. Application documents should be sent to Ms. Gae Matthews, Graduate Administrator, Department of Geography, Downing Place, Cambridge CB2 3EN or via email to: [log in to unmask], no later than 1200 noon (BST) on Monday, 12th September 2011. Late applications will not be accepted.