{"id":19,"date":"2015-10-18T23:35:00","date_gmt":"2015-10-18T23:35:00","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2015-10-29T19:27:40","modified_gmt":"2015-10-29T19:27:40","slug":"thea-bechshoft","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/grad.biology.ualberta.ca\/derocher\/thea-bechshoft\/","title":{"rendered":"Thea Bechsh\u00f8ft"},"content":{"rendered":"

Thea Bechsh\u00f8ft, PhD
\nUniversity of Alberta
\nEdmonton, Alberta
\nCanada, T6G 2E9
\nPhone: +1 (780) 492-6347
\nE-mail: thea.bechshoft@ualberta.ca<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Postdoctoral\u00a0fellow<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cStress in polar bears: novel approaches and\u00a0cross-population comparisons\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Description:
\nPolar bears outside Ittoqqortoormiit, 2011 (Photo: R. Dietz)<\/div>\n
\"Description:
\nFieldwork in Uunerteq, 2011
\n(Photo: K.M. Gabrielsen).<\/div>\n


<\/p>\n

The world\u2019s\u00a0polar bear population is predicted to be reduced by approximately 30% over the next\u00a045 years1,2<\/span><\/sup>. This is due to reduced access\u00a0to prey as a consequence of altered sea ice coverage and dynamics, inducing
\nenergetic stress and risk for further endocrine disruption from long-range transported industrial pollutants1,3<\/span>-4<\/sup>. If\u00a0we are to amend this situation, there is an urgent management and conservation\u00a0need for information on this iconic Arctic species that requires new, cutting\u00a0edge methods. The goal of this postdoc project is to create and test novel approaches\u00a0for understanding these changes on the polar bear populations.<\/p>\n

There are\u00a0currently 19 distinct populations of polar bears in the circumpolar Arctic7<\/sup>.\u00a0Although the different populations are in the same basic environment, they\u00a0differ with regards to consequences of the potential stressors due to local\u00a0conditions (e.g. time of ice break up, contaminant load, degree of harvest)2<\/sup>.\u00a0The information available also differs between populations. For example, Canada\u00a0has repeat samples and life history information from a large number of bears,\u00a0but few invasive samples, whereas Greenland has access to a large number oftissue samples, but no body condition or life history information on the bears sampled.\u00a0If we are to better understand the challenges faced by polar bears as a whole,\u00a0there is an urgent need to combine and directly compare the disparate data\u00a0across populations and thus benefit from their respective strengths2,5<\/span><\/sup>. The need for such cross-population and\u00a0interdisciplinary collaborative efforts has been noted recently by numerous\u00a0recognized experts in the field5<\/sup>, as well as by the Conservation of\u00a0Arctic Flora and Fauna (a Working Group of the Arctic Council)6<\/sup><\/span>.\u00a0The postdoc project is based on an exceptional collaboration between scientists\u00a0from Canada and Denmark\/Greenland, representing an unprecedented opportunity to\u00a0compare and contrast the polar bear populations of these two areas. New\u00a0noninvasive biomarker tools will be developed, providing knowledge that will\u00a0benefit the management of polar bears over the wider circumpolar scale. With\u00a0the above-mentioned in mind, the post-doctoral project seeks to employ a\u00a0cross-population integrative approach to:<\/p>\n

a.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Obtain a deeper understanding of the novel\u00a0non-invasive biomarker matrix that is polar bear hair; particularly with\u00a0regards to its uses, their implications, and the development of further\u00a0non-invasive analysis methods allowing the assessment of polar bear\u00a0physiological state and overall health.<\/p>\n

b.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Determine\u00a0the genetic aspect of the vulnerability towards environmental contaminants\u00a0between polar bear populations.<\/p>\n

c.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Incorporate the new knowledge obtained through\u00a0the project with already published data on multiple polar bear populations\u00a0(body condition, contaminant load, reproductive history, age, etc.) that will\u00a0allow us to better understand the effects of climate warming and other\u00a0population level stressors, as well as whether they affect the separate polar\u00a0bear populations differently.<\/p>\n

References<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0(1) <\/span>Amstrup et al. 2007. <\/span>USGS Science<\/span><\/em>;
\n<\/span>(2) <\/span>Obbard<\/span><\/span> et al. 2010. IUCN PBSG<\/em>;
\n(3) <\/span>Jenssen. 2006. Environmental<\/em><\/span> Health Perspectives<\/span><\/em>;
\n(4) Sonne. 2010. <\/span>Environment\u00a0International<\/span><\/em>;
\n<\/span>(5) <\/span>Vongraven<\/span><\/span> et al. 2012. Ursus Monograph\u00a0Series<\/em>;
\n(6) Vongraven<\/span> & Peacock. 2011. CAFF<\/em>;<\/span>
\n(7) <\/span>Aars et al. 2006. IUCN\u00a0PBSG<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Thea Bechsh\u00f8ft, PhD University of Alberta Edmonton, Alberta Canada, T6G 2E9 Phone: +1 (780) 492-6347 E-mail: thea.bechshoft@ualberta.ca Postdoctoral\u00a0fellow \u201cStress in polar bears: novel approaches and\u00a0cross-population comparisons\u201d Polar bears outside Ittoqqortoormiit, 2011 (Photo: R. Dietz) Fieldwork in Uunerteq, 2011 (Photo: K.M. Gabrielsen). The world\u2019s\u00a0polar bear population is predicted to be reduced by approximately 30% over the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":60,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-19","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/grad.biology.ualberta.ca\/derocher\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/19","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/grad.biology.ualberta.ca\/derocher\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/grad.biology.ualberta.ca\/derocher\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grad.biology.ualberta.ca\/derocher\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/60"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grad.biology.ualberta.ca\/derocher\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/grad.biology.ualberta.ca\/derocher\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/19\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":315,"href":"https:\/\/grad.biology.ualberta.ca\/derocher\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/19\/revisions\/315"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/grad.biology.ualberta.ca\/derocher\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}