Postdoc Position on Developing Analytical Pipelines and Analyses to Survey Invasive Alien Species in Aquatic Systems using eDNA (2 years)

Invasive alien species (IAS) are globally and nationally a main driver of biodiversity loss. IAS can be found in all ecosystems but are particularly prevalent and problematic in aquatic ecosystems, as their management and control-once established-is very difficult or even impossible. Consequently, prevention and early warning are essential, and both are depending on surveillance and monitoring. Environmental DNA (eDNA) is emerging as a suitable tool for spatial and temporal surveillance and early recognition and monitoring of arrival and establishment of IAS, yet generalization, robustness and implementation are still under development. 

In this Postdoc project, you will establish and develop analytical pipelines to analyse and survey invasive alien species using existing eDNA datasets. The initial focus will be on IAS in Central Europe/Switzerland, but pipelines should be scalable across Europe and beyond. Own contributions and ideas are explicitly encouraged ...