A 6-month Master 2 internship is available at the RECOVER laboratory (INRAE) in Aix-en-Provence, France, focusing on the impacts of heatwaves on the dynamics of freshwater ecological communities. The student will work under the supervision of Amanda Cantarute-Rodrigues, Tom Réveillon, Chirine Toumi, Arnaud Sentis and Loïc Chalmandrier,
Research context
Extreme climatic events are becoming increasingly frequent and intense as a result of climate change (IPCC 2022). Recent heatwaves, including the exceptionally long heatwaves experienced in France in summer 2026, illustrate this ongoing trend and could have severe consequences for biodiversity (Batt et al. 2017; Tonkin et al. 2026).
Despite their increasing importance, the effects of heatwaves on the dynamics of ecological communities remain poorly understood. In freshwater ecosystems, it is particularly unclear how heatwaves affect fish and macroinvertebrate communities, and whether their effects are primarily immediate or delayed following the event (Cortés-Guzmán et al. 2024).
Species may also respond differently to the same heatwave, shifting communities towards the dominance of some taxonomic or functional groups. Some species may benefit from warmer conditions, whereas others may experience strong negative effects, depending on their thermal tolerance and other functional traits (Harvey et al. 2022). Understanding this variation is essential for linking the characteristics of heatwaves (intensity, duration, and frequency) to their ecological consequences, and for identifying which species and communities are most vulnerable to extreme heat.
Objectives
The main objective of this internship is to investigate how heatwaves affect the temporal dynamics of freshwater fish and/or macroinvertebrate communities.
Depending on the student’s interests and progress, the internship will involve several of the following activities:
• Characterizing heatwaves using existing temperature datasets from French rivers, including their frequency, intensity, duration, and timing.
• Analysing long-term freshwater ecological time series to investigate community responses to heatwaves in French rivers.
• Quantifying immediate and delayed responses of fish and/or macroinvertebrate communities to heatwave events, using time-lag, trajectory, and recovery analyses.
• Investigating how functional diversity and community functional structure change following heatwaves in relation to species’ functional traits and trophic position.
• If data availability and time permit, exploring how river discharge interacts with water temperature to influence community responses to heatwaves.
The internship will primarily rely on existing biodiversity and environmental time-series datasets, providing an opportunity to work with large ecological datasets and develop quantitative approaches to climate-change ecology.
Methods and data
The project will combine:
• Long-term water temperature records from French rivers.
• Existing fish and macroinvertebrate biodiversity time series from French rivers.
• Statistical and time-series analyses to characterize heatwaves and quantify community responses over time.
• Functional-trait and community-level analyses, depending on the development of the project.
The exact analytical approach will be adapted to the student’s interests, skills, and progress during the internship.
Candidate profile
We are looking for a motivated Master 2 student with a strong interest in ecology, biodiversity, and climate-change research.
The following skills are desirable:
• Experience with ecological data and statistics.
• Good knowledge of the analytical software R.
• Interest in time-series analysis and quantitative ecology.
• Experience with data and database management would be appreciated.
• An interest in freshwater ecology, functional ecology, or the ecological consequences of climate change would be an advantage.
• Good written and spoken English.
The internship will provide an opportunity to develop skills in quantitative ecology, biodiversity analysis, time-series analysis, and climate-change research.
Practical information
Starting date: January/February 2027 (flexible)
Duration: 6 months
Location: INRAE, RECOVER laboratory, 3275 Route Cézanne, 13182 Aix-en-Provence, France
Supervisors: Amanda Cantarute-Rodrigues, Tom Réveillon, Chirine Toumi, Arnaud Sentis and Loïc Chalmandrier (INRAE UMR RECOVER).
Application
Application deadline: October 30, 2026
Please send your CV and motivation letter (1 page maximum, in French or English) to:
Amanda Cantarute-Rodrigues : amanda.cantarute-rodrigues@inrae.fr
Tom Réveillon: tom.reveillon@inrae.fr
Chirine Toumi : chirine.toumi@inrae.fr
Arnaud Sentis : arnaud.sentis@inrae.fr
Loïc Chalmandrier : loic.chalmandrier@inrae.fr
Informal enquiries are welcome. Please contact us by email in French or English.
Keywords
Heatwaves · Climate change · Thermal ecology · Freshwater ecosystems · Community dynamics · Functional diversity · Fish · Macroinvertebrates · Time-series analysis
References
Batt, R. D., Carpenter, S. R. & Ives, A. R. Extreme events in lake ecosystem time series. Limnol Oceanogr Letters 2, 63–69 (2017).
Cortés-Guzmán, D., Bowler, D. E. & Haase, P. Spatial and temporal effects of heat waves on the diversity of European stream invertebrate communities. Science of The Total Environment 953, 176229 (2024).
Intergovernmental Panel On Climate Change (Ipcc). Climate Change 2022 – Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability: Working Group II Contribution to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. (Cambridge University Press, 2023).
Harvey, B. P., Marshall, K. E., Harley, C. D. G. & Russell, B. D. Predicting responses to marine heatwaves using functional traits. Trends in Ecology & Evolution 37, 20–29 (2022).
Tonkin, J. D. et al. Extreme events and river biodiversity under climate change. Nat. Rev. Biodivers. 2, 150–169 (2026).
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