About this role
Are you interested in the dynamics of microalgal communities, and how they are affected by environmental change? Do you like to combine laboratory experiments with molecular methods and fieldwork in polar ecosystems? We have a vacancy for a postdoctoral researcher within the NWO-funded project 'The key role of mixotrophy in Antarctic Carbon and Sulfur Cycles' (MACS). Postdoc position on Antarctic Mixotrophic Microalgae Are you interested in the dynamics of microalgal communities, and how they are affected by environmental change? Do you like to combine laboratory experiments with molecular methods and fieldwork in polar ecosystems? We have a vacancy for a postdoctoral researcher within the NWO-funded project 'The key role of mixotrophy in Antarctic Carbon and Sulfur Cycles' (MACS). Postdoc position on Antarctic Mixotrophic Microalgae The Antarctic seasonal sea-ice zone is rapidly changing, with consequences for the key primary producers: microalgae growing in sea-ice and water. While traditionally regarded as purely photoautotrophic, many of these microalgae likely also feed on other microbes or take up dissolved organic matter. Such a mixotrophic lifestyle might help them to survive the polar night and allow them an early start in the growing season, long before other algae receive sufficient light to pick up growth. Additionally, microalgae contribute to the production of the trace gas dimethylsulfide (DMS) that has an impact on climate via cloud formation. The MACS project aims to understand the role of mixotrophic protists in Antarctic C- and S-cycles. Such mechanistic understanding will help predict how changing ice cover will affect microalgal growth and DMS-production in the future, and whether feedbacks might be expected in a changing climate. As a postdoc in the MACS project you will investigate how multiple environmental stressors affect the community composition, physiology, and gene expression of Antarctic microalg...