Background: As the ongoing climate change threatens wildlife populations, it is important to understand the demographic responses to climate-linked environmental disruptions. Since birth rates are a key determinant of population dynamics, this project seeks to understand such climate-driven effects on fertility in the Asian elephant (Elephas maximus), using a long-term demographic dataset on a large population of timber elephants from Myanmar. The timber elephants of Myanmar are of high conservation importance as they form the largest semi-captive population of Asian elephants that has a strong rewilding potential.
The candidate will work with the long-term demographic data to first quantify how climatic variation is associated with the probability of conceptions or births by females. Second, the candidate will examine the climate-driven temporal variation in body weight, as conceptions are likely linked with good body condition which could worsen under climate adversity.
Internship:
For this project, you will be supervised by Dr. Hansraj Gautam and Dr. Nikolaos Smit at the University of Turku, Finland, within the Myanmar Timber Elephant Project led by Prof Virpi Lummaa. The Myanmar Timber Elephant Project is a multi-disciplinary and international research group investigating the evolution, ecology and behaviour, among other topics, in a semi-captive population of timber elephants in Myanmar (https://elephant-project.science/). The candidate will work with the longitudinal dataset on thousands of elephants being studied in this project.
What you will learn/gain: In this internship, the candidate will a) learn how to scientifically address an exciting research question, b) learn analysing large demographic datasets, and c) gain exposure to a large international group of researchers working on ecology and evolution.
Preferable start: Beginning of 2026 (dates are flexible).
Note: There is no financial help provided but we will support candidates in application for Erasmus/other mobility grants (check modalities with your university).
Requirements
We are looking for a motivated Master’s students interested in ecology and who is willing to learn more about the demographic consequences of environmental variation in long-lived mammals. This project would require knowledge of statistical analyses and previous experience with R software, since this project contains a substantial part on analyses. Ideal duration of this internship is around 5 months. Please send your CV and a cover letter (1 page max) by November 25th 2025. Interviews will be held the following weeks.
Contact: Dr Hansraj Gautam hansraj.gautam@utu.fi and Dr. Nikolaos Smit nikolaos.smit@utu.fi, Department of Biology, University of Turku, Finland.
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