Positions Available
MS | PhD | Postdoc
MS Positions
MS / PhD Graduate Assistantship: Effects of fish passage improvement on stream food webs
Responsibilities: The student will develop a collaborative project aimed at understanding how the replacement of the Cherryfield ice dam with a rock-ramp fish way influences the incorporation of marine derived nutrients in the food webs of the Narraguagus River. The project will use a combination of field sampling of macroinvertebrates and fish, stable isotope processing and analysis, and a range of quantitative analyses. The research is in collaboration with student-led projects on diadromous fish movement and responses of upstream fish communities and involves working closely federal & state agency and NGO partners. Good communication skills are essential as the student will be responsible for frequent coordination and reporting.
Qualifications & experience: A B.S. in biology or equivalent (or M.S for Ph.D. level position), prior field and laboratory experience, and an interest in food webs and ecological statistics/quantitative methods are essential. Must have a desire to contribute to a collaborative and supportive graduate student community. Prior experience in data management, sampling and identification of fish and macroinvertebrates, preparation of samples for stable isotope analysis, and Bayesian food-web analyses are desirable but not required.
Salary and benefits: Minimum $28,000 MS/$31,333.33 PhD per year, minimum 65% of medical insurance premium for student and up to 50% for one dependent, minimum of 50% of dental insurance premium for student, and minimum of 13 credit hours of tuition. Funding is renewed annually; 3 years of research assistantship and at least 1 year of teaching assistantship support is anticipated.
Closing date: Review will begin 15 July 2026; anticipated starting date of January 1, 2027 or as arranged.
Degree options: The student will be co-advised by Drs Christina Murphy and Hamish Greig, so there is flexibility to take graduate degree in either Biology (with concentration in Ecology), Wildlife Ecology, or Ecology and Environmental Sciences.
Contact: Please send cover letter, CV, transcripts, three references (names and contact only) via this google sheet. Please direct questions and applications to Hamish Greig (hamish.greig@maine.edu) and Christina Murphy (christina.murphy@maine.edu) with heading “Narraguagus River Assistantship”.
Links: https://umaine.edu/wle/, https://sbe.umaine.edu, https://umaine.edu/mainecoopunit/; https://umaine.edu/graduate/
About UMaine: The University of Maine, a flagship R-1 institution, is a friendly community in the small and bike-able town of Orono, just up the road from the City of Bangor. The campus is surrounded by ample forests, bogs, rivers, and lakes set in the famous Hundred-Mile Wilderness of the Appalachian Trail and the spectacular coastline of Acadia National Park. Waterways, and hiking, biking and ski-trails on the campus doorstep provide opportunities for four seasons of outdoor recreation.
MS / PhD Graduate Assistantship: Effects of fish passage improvement on upstream fish communities
Responsibilities: The student will develop a collaborative project aimed at understanding how the replacement of the Cherryfield ice dam with a rock-ramp fish way influences the community structure and dynamics of fish communities. The project will use a combination eDNA and electrofishing to qualitatively and quantitatively sample diadromous and freshwater fishes. Opportunities also exist to extend research to macroinvertebrate communities depending on student interest. The research is in collaboration with student-led projects on diadromous fish movement and the incorporation of marine-derived nutrients in stream food webs and involves working closely federal & state agency and NGO partners. Good communication skills are essential as the student will be responsible for frequent coordination and reporting.
Qualifications & experience: A B.S. in biology or equivalent (or M.S for Ph.D. level position), prior field and laboratory experience, and an interest in community ecology and ecological statistics/quantitative methods are essential. Must have a desire to contribute to a collaborative and supportive graduate student community. Prior experience with eDNA sampling, laboratory and data analyses, electrofishing, sampling and identification of fish and/or macroinvertebrates, and ecological statistics is desired but not essential.
Salary and benefits: Minimum $28,000 MS/$31,333.33 PhD per year, minimum 65% of medical insurance premium for student and up to 50% for one dependent, minimum of 50% of dental insurance premium for student, and minimum of 13 credit hours of tuition. Funding is renewed annually; 3 years of research assistantship and at least 1 year of teaching assistantship support is anticipated.
Closing date: Review will begin 15 July 2026; anticipated starting date of January 1, 2027 or as arranged.
Degree options: The student will be co-advised by Drs Christina Murphy and Hamish Greig, so there is flexibility to take graduate degree in either Biology (with concentration in Ecology), Wildlife Ecology, or Ecology and Environmental Sciences.
Contact: Please send cover letter, CV, transcripts, three references (names and contact only) via this google sheet. Please direct questions and applications to Hamish Greig (hamish.greig@maine.edu) and Christina Murphy (christina.murphy@maine.edu) with heading “Narraguagus River Assistantship”.
Links: https://sbe.umaine.edu, https://umaine.edu/wle/, https://umaine.edu/mainecoopunit/; https://umaine.edu/graduate/
About UMaine: The University of Maine, a flagship R-1 institution, is a friendly community in the small and bike-able town of Orono, just up the road from the City of Bangor. The campus is surrounded by ample forests, bogs, rivers, and lakes set in the famous Hundred-Mile Wilderness of the Appalachian Trail and the spectacular coastline of Acadia National Park. Waterways, and hiking, biking and ski-trails on the campus doorstep provide opportunities for four seasons of outdoor recreation.
PhD Positions
See above.
Postdoc Positions
None at this time.
Updated 5/22/2026
