Project Overview: In North America, an estimated 1 billion birds are killed by colliding with windows each year. Despite this enormous mortality rate, population-level effects on different avian species are poorly known.

We are looking for a PhD student to join an exciting, collaborative team of researchers, policy-makers, and volunteers from Carleton University, Environment and Climate Change Canada, and Safe Wings Ottawa. The student will lead a large-scale study on bird-window collisions, exploring the vulnerability of populations to collision mortality and using decision-science frameworks to test the efficacy of solutions. The results from this project will support grassroots movements to advocate for retrofitting of windows with bird-safe design. The results will also inform national standards to tackle the issue of window collisions at a federal level. The student will have an opportunity to learn to co-develop scientific research and improve conservation policy and practice.

The position start date is flexible, preferably September 2026 or January 2027. The student will be co-supervised by Dr. Rachel Buxton and Dr. Barbara Frei. The candidate will receive two years of funding for this position through a Research Assistantship.

Essential Skills & Qualifications:

• An MSc degree in ecology, conservation science, environmental science, geography, or related field. Relevant work-related experience will also be considered.

• Some coding and modelling experience in R.

• Strong research, leadership, and communication skills.

• Inter-personal skills.

• Enthusiasm and kindness.

• A desire to make the world a better place for people and nature.

Desirable Skills & Qualifications:

• Spatial modelling.

Application Details

Applicants will be accepted on a rolling basis. Please send the following to Rachel Buxton (Rachel.Buxton@carleton.ca) and Stasha Lysyk (stashalysyk@cmail.carleton.ca) with the subject line: Bird Window Collisions application.

1) Letter of interest summarizing your experience

2) Curriculum vitae or resume

3) Contact information for 3 references

4) University transcripts (unofficial are sufficient).

PhD Position: Population level impacts of bird-window collisions

Project Overview: Effective monitoring of Boreal Forest birds is needed to protect imperiled species in this rapidly changing ecoregion. Indigenous-led monitoring and land caring is fundamental to transformative change needed to achieve biodiversity conservation and supporting self-determination.

We are looking for a PhD student to join our dynamic team of collaborators across Carleton University, Environment and Climate Change Canada, the Boreal Avian Modelling Centre, KO Chiefs, and the community of Fort Severn. The student will undertake a study co-developed with the community of Fort Severn, analyzing hundreds of sites of acoustic data collected from 2009-2014 from northern Ontario as part of the Far North Biodiversity Project. The project will involve managing, interpreting, and spatial modelling of acoustic data, with potential for statistical integration with other existing datasets in the region. Results will be developed and interpreted alongside the community of Fort Severn to ensure outputs contribute to land use planning. All project components will adhere to First Nations principles of Ownership, Control, Access, and Possession (OCAP).

The position start date is September 2026 (with some flexibility). The student will be supervised by Dr. Rachel Buxton (https://www.biodiversityconservationsolutions.com/) in collaboration with Christopher Koostachin, Nathan Wilson, Dr. Elly Knight, and Dr. Josie Hughes.

EssentialSkillsandQualifications:

• MSc degree in ecology, conservation science, data science, geography, applied statistics, or a related field;

• Some experience with passive acoustic monitoring and bird identification;

• Strong research, leadership, and communication skills;

• Enthusiasm and kindness;

• Respect for other ways of knowing

• Note that existing funding is only sufficient to cover Canadian citizens.

Desirable Skills:

• Interweaving/braiding different ways of knowing;

• OCAP principles;

• Spatial modelling

Applicationdetails: Applicants should send the following to Christopher Dennison (ChristopherDennison@cmail.carleton.ca) with Rachel Buxton (Rachel.Buxton@carleton.ca) CC’d by February 15, 2026, with the subject line: PhD Boreal Bird Bioacoustics:

1) Letter of interest summarizing your experience;

2) Curriculum Vitae;

3) Contact details for three references; and

4) University transcripts (unofficial are fine).

PhD Position: Boreal Forest Birds in the Far North of Ontario