An ERC funded Post Doctoral Research Associate (PDRA) position is available for 24 months working in the Natural History Museum with Dr Selina Brace on the recovery of DNA from small mammal remains and sediment samples from Palaeolithic caves in Armenia. This work is part of a larger project in collaboration with Dr Ariel Malinsky-Buller (The Hebrew University) to understand how humans and other mammals responded to climatic oscillations in the Southern Caucasus and Armenian highlands during the Palaeolithic. Marine Isotope Stage 3 (MIS), ca. 60-27 kya is a critical time for hominins in Southwestern Asia as it includes the transition from the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic, and the possible replacement of Neanderthals by modern humans. It is also a highly dynamic period for climate, which witnessed rapid environmental changes causing ecological fluctuations. The advertised position is to conduct aDNA genomic analyses to reconstruct small mammal population structure and identify changes in structure such as turnover events and ebb and flow. The PDRA will further be exploring the potential of ancient DNA from cave sediments and resin-impregnated micromorphological blocks using aDNA metagenomic analyses to assess human and mammal presence/absence through time. The job will involve all processes associated with ancient DNA analyses from laboratory work to bioinformatics and data interpretation. The role will include some experimental design and methodological development. The DNA results combined with climate data, modern DNA data and archaeological data from the sites. The successful applicant will join the ancient DNA group at the museum that currently comprises of PDRA and PhD students working on a wide range of ancient and historical DNA projects. The post will be based at the Natural History Museum and as such they will be part of a group of approximately 300 scientists, and will have the opportunity to communicate science to a huge national and international audience.
Plus d’informations :
[Website Natural History Museum]