Current Research Opportunities

Look through the Research Opportunities for M.Sc. and Ph.D. positions below to see the exciting positions that are available to incoming students in the Environmental & life Sciences Graduate Program! You are encouraged to contact the faculty member directly.  If you have any questions, please contact enlsgrad@trentu.ca.

MSc and PhD positions

View the open positions listed below.  Please contact the supervisor listed in the posting.  If you have additional questions please reach out to the ENLS Graduate Program office: enlsgrad@trentu.ca

MSc , PhD & Postdoctoral Fellow (PDF)– Muskox and Bison Conservation Genomics

Position:

MSc, PhD & Post Doctoral positions

Supervisor:

Dr. Chris Kyle

Start Date: 

Summer / Fall 2025, negotiable

Brief Description:

The Kyle laboratory, in close collaboration with partner institutions and agencies (e.g., Parks Canada) is working to understand the adaptive resiliency of large northern ungulates in context of rapid environmental change and acute selective pressures from disease.  Current study systems include muskox and American bison, where archived and ongoing collections of specimens will be examined, comparing host genomic variation (specifically the immunome) and microbiome variation relative to disease status, stress indicators and other phenotypic data (e.g., body condition metrics). We are recruiting at several PDFs and graduate students to assist with this research. There will be some flexibility to adapt projects to candidate interests with opportunities for field and lab work.

Location: 

Successful candidates will join the Kyle lab group at Trent University in Peterborough, ON, and will have access to networking and training opportunities with collaborators at U. Montreal, U. Calgary, Parks Canada, among other partners and stakeholders.

Qualifications and Eligibility:

PDFs - successful candidate must have PhD with relevant experience such as bioinformatic processing of genomic data, metabarcoding, or metagenomics.

MSc/PhDs – successful candidates must have a degree(s) relevant to projects described.

Compensation:

PDF: no less than 60K CAD/year (negotiable based on experience). One year of funding is guaranteed with contract extensions based upon satisfactory progress.

Grad Students: PhDs: 30-35K CAD/year (with graduate teaching assistantship), MScs 25-28K CAD/year (with graduate teaching assistantship) where additional grants/scholarships available at Trent U. could supplement stipends.

To Apply: 

Please send an email to Christopherkyle@trentu.ca) including: a brief statement outlining research interests, previous experience and training relating to this project, C.V., and contact information for two references.

Applications will be reviewed as they are received.

Start Date: Summer / Fall 2025, negotiable

MSc and PhD: Graduate Student Position: Genomic Investigations of Newfoundland Wolf and Coyote Colonization Dynamics and Ecological Impacts

Position:

MSc and PhD positions

Supervisor:

Dr. Chris Kyle

Start Date: 

Fall 2025, negotiable

Brief Description:

 Wolves were once native to the island of Newfoundland (Canis lupus beothucus) where hunting and habitat loss led to declining numbers and ultimately extinction around 1930. Coyotes are not considered native to the island of Newfoundland, nor northeastern North America.  Beginning in the late 1800s, coyote populations expanded quickly into the northeast and were eventually documented on the island of Newfoundland in the 1980s, presumably having crossed via ice floes. Coyote populations have since grown significantly on the island and are now harvested. In the mid 2000s, a small number of wolves were once more confirmed on the island of Newfoundland, with ice floes again presumed to be the likely vehicle of reintroduction, but they have not substantially expanded on the island.

Wild-canid dynamics in Newfoundland, including the possibility of wolf-coyote hybridization, provide a unique system to explore a myriad of ecological and evolutionary questions with direct relevance to wildlife management and conservation. Working with the Newfoundland and Labrador Department of Fisheries, Forestry and Agriculture (which collects hundreds of hunter-submitted carcasses each year), wild-canid experts from the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, and the Kyle Laboratory at Trent University (Peterborough, ON, CA), the prospective student will use molecular/genomic tools to investigate this system using both archived samples and contemporary collections.

Location: 

Successful candidates will join the Kyle lab group at Trent University in Peterborough, ON. They will also benefit from networking and training opportunities with wolf and coyote experts and collaborators from the governments of Newfoundland and Labrador and Ontario.

Compensation: 

Grad Students: PhDs: 30-33K CAD/year (with graduate teaching assistantship), MScs 25-28K CAD/year (with graduate teaching assistantship). Additional grants/scholarships available at Trent U. could supplement stipends.

Qualifications and Eligibility: 

A strong publication record for the applicant’s career stage is preferred, along with some level of molecular and bioinformatic expertise/experience.  Domestic applications are preferred as international tuition fees cannot be fully covered by the available stipends.

To Apply or Request more Information: 

Please send an email to Christopherkyle@trentu.ca including: a brief statement outlining your research interests and previous experience/training related to this project, an up-to-date C.V., and contact information for two references.

Applications will be reviewed as they are received.

Start Date: Fall 2025, negotiable

* Note: This project is pending budget approval from the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador.

MSc and PhD- Global Change Ecology

Position:

MSc  and PhD

Supervisors:

Dr. Andrew Tanentzap and Dr. Erik Emilson

Start Date: 

Ongoing

Brief Description: 

The Ecosystems and Global Change Group (www.ecosystemchange.com) at Trent University jointly led by Prof Andrew Tanentzap (Canada Research Chair in Climate Change and Northern Ecosystems) and Dr Erik Emilson (Research Scientist, Canadian Forest Service sector of Natural Resources Canada, (https://glfc-wet.github.io) is recruiting MSc/PhD students at the intersect of ecosystem ecology, microbiology, and geochemistry in northern waters and soils.

Full Description: Click Here for the full Description

MSc, PhD and Postdoc positions – Cell and molecular biology

Position:

MSc, PhD and Postdoc positions

Supervisors:

Dr. Robert Huber

Start Date: 

Ongoing

Brief Description: 

The Huber Lab uses the social amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum as a model system for studying the functions of proteins linked to human disease. Current research is focused on revealing the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying the neuronal ceroid lipofuscinoses (NCLs), commonly known as Batten disease (the most common form of childhood neurodegeneration). For more information, please visit: http://huberlab.ca Students and trainees will gain experience using a diversity of molecular, cellular, and biochemical approaches including cell culture, PCR, gene cloning and knockout, recombinant protein expression, enzyme assays, immunoprecipitation, SDS-PAGE and western blotting, and epifluorescence microscopy.

Full Description: Click Here for the full Description

 

MSc and PhD Positions - Molecular Parasitology/Biochemistry

Position:

MSc, PhD positions

Supervisors:

Dr. Janet Yee

Start Date: 

Ongoing

Brief Description: 

The research in our laboratory studies the biology of the waterborne parasite, Giardia intestinalis, by using molecular and biochemical approaches. This protist is found in freshwater lakes and streams, and it infects humans, domestic animals, and wildlife. Although giardiasis occurs worldwide, this disease is especially problematic in less-developed countries where diarrhea kills about 2.2 million people each year, with most cases involving children less than 5 years of age. Drugs currently available to treat Giardia are highly toxic especially to developing fetuses in pregnant women.

Full Description: Click Here for the full Description

MSc and PhD-  Stem cell biology, aging, muscle repair, and/or inflammation 

Position:

MSc and PhD positions

Supervisors:

Dr. Stephanie Tobin

Start Date: 

Ongoing

Brief Description: 

The Tobin Lab is seeking motivated individuals with a passion for stem cell biology, aging, muscle repair, and/or inflammation. Students will have the opportunity to use cell and animal models of aging and regeneration and learn a variety of molecular techniques. Experience in cell and animal models would be considered an asset.

Website: stephaniewalestobin.com

Full Description: Click Here for the full Description

MSc and PhD: Graduate Student Position: Genomic Investigations of Newfoundland Wolf and Coyote Colonization Dynamics and Ecological Impacts

New accordion content

PhD Positions

View the open positions listed below.  Please contact the supervisor listed in the posting.  If you have additional questions please reach out to the ENLS Graduate Program office: enlsgrad@trentu.ca

PhD positions- Ecology of Lake and River Ecosystems

Position:

PhD positions

Supervisors:

Dr. Maggie Xenopoulos 

Start Date: 

Ongoing

Brief Description: 

Graduate Ph.D. positions are available to contribute to on-going ecological research on rivers in the Laboratory of Freshwater Ecology at Trent University in Peterborough, Ontario and as part of a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Global Change of Aquatic Ecosystems. Research for these positions could range from food web responses to environmental stress to landscape studies of carbon and nutrients. Field work for these positions could include the Great Lakes basin and central Ontario in cottage country.

Full Description: Click Here for the full Description

PhD positions- Ecology of Lake and River Ecosystems

Position:

PhD positions

Supervisors:

Dr. Maggie Xenopoulos and Dr. Paul Frost

Start Date: 

Ongoing

Brief Description: 

Graduate PhD positions are available in the Laboratory of Freshwater Ecology at Trent University in Peterborough, Ontario to conduct ecological research on lakes and rivers. Research for these positions could range from nutrient effects on animal nutrition and food webs to landscape studies of carbon and nutrients. Field work for these positions could include projects in the Great Lakes and their watersheds, central Ontario in cottage country and the Experimental Lakes Area in northwestern Ontario. These graduate positions are funded at the PhD level but we will consider exceptional M.Sc. candidates who are interested in converting to a PhD. Students will be enrolled in the Environmental & Life Sciences Graduate Program at Trent University which takes in new students in January, May and September each year. This posting will remain open until all positions are filled.

Full Description: Click Here for the full Description

MSc positions

View the open positions listed below.  Please contact the supervisor listed in the posting.  If you have additional questions please reach out to the ENLS Graduate Program office: enlsgrad@trentu.ca

MSc position- Nutrients and ecosystem health

Position:

MSc

Supervisors:

Dr. Shaun Watmough

Start Date: 

Ongoing

Brief Description: 

Decades of acid rain and timber harvesting have depleted soil nutrient levels and lake chemistry is changing alarmingly. Understanding the key processes involved and mitigation options including the application of wood ash are the focus of this research project.

Full Description: Click Here for the full Description