Stony Brook University invites applications for a postdoctoral scholar to join a vibrant, multidisciplinary, and international team of researchers integrating field, laboratory, and modeling approaches to investigate the complex relationships between landscape, climate, and the long-term transformation of ecosystems and mammalian fauna in Turkana Basin, Kenya. The postdoc would pursue original research for the NSF-funded Turkana Miocene Project (Award # 2021666) and work as a collaborative member of the Life – Analytical Paleobiology working group. We are seeking a motivated individual interested in studying the ecology and evolutionary dynamics of primates and their related mammalian communities in the context of tectonic, climate, and environmental change over the Late Oligocene to Late Miocene in the Turkana Basin, Kenya. Applicants with interest(s) in modeling functional relationships between traits of organisms and their environments, paleoenvironmental reconstruction, and mammalian diversification dynamics and biogeography are especially encouraged to apply. Expertise in the fossil record of East Africa, and of Miocene hominoids in particular, as well as experience with large, integrative datasets will be considered assets. For more information, please visit the Turkana Miocene Project website.

As a part of the Turkana Miocene Project, the postdoctoral researcher will join a rich collaborative environment, with opportunities for field, lab, and collections-based research, and work closely with project leaders on specific research projects. The position will be based at Stony Brook University, with formal affiliation with the Department of Ecology and Evolution, and opportunities to work with collaborators in the Departments of Anthropology and Geosciences, as well as with the Turkana Basin Institute. The position will be for one year, with the potential for a second-year extension.