College of Science and Engineering

A postdoctoral position is available for 2.5 years to investigate the evolutionary ecology and genetics of telomere dynamics in a wild Soay sheep population. The project, funded by BBSRC, is based on the long-term study of Soay sheep on St Kilda and will utilise a large freezer bank of blood samples (>8000) collected since 1990 alongside other genetic, phenotypic, life history and fitness data collected as part of the study. The post-doc will work closely with an established and experienced team in the laboratory to generate leukocyte telomere length (LTL) measurements from these blood samples. Their principal responsibility will be to analyse the data produced to address key questions for both evolutionary ecologists and telomere biologists, including: (1) To what degree early-life LTL versus life-long changes in LTL drive population-level variation in LTL, (2) How do early-life environmental conditions and genes contribute to LTL variation, (3) How does natural selection act on LTL across the entire lifespan.

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