Graduate Students Wanted - NSF-funded Research Assistantship

Applications for graduate students in the lab of Jeremy M. Brown at Louisiana State University (LSU) are now being accepted for Fall 2014 admission. Research in the Brown lab is broadly centered on the use of a phylogenetic perspective to understand organismal history and molecular evolution.  We work on both empirical and methodological questions, often involving the development of novel statistical and computational approaches. Recent and ongoing empirical work includes large-scale studies of vertebrate phylogeny, the use of phylogenies as forensic tools in criminal cases of HIV transmission, and investigations into somatic diversification during tumor development.  Recent and ongoing methodological work focuses on the development and testing of statistical approaches for phylogenomics and the interpretation/visualization of phylogenetic information in massive sets of trees.  Extensive opportunities exist for collaboration and co-advising with other outstanding evolutionary genetics labs at LSU (including those of Robb Brumfield, Mike Hellberg, Chris Austin, Jake Esselstyn, Prosanta Chakrabarty, Maheshi Dassanayake, and Cameron Thrash among others).  An interest in programming, computation, and/or statistics is encouraged, but no specific prior background is required.  Incoming students will join a highly collaborative and interactive group of researchers: http://www.phyleaux1.lsu.edu/?q=node/8.