Erin S McCallum

Bachelors, masters, & doctoral students

I am always excited to have bachelors, masters or doctoral students working on their theses with me in the lab and/or field. If you're interested in doing your thesis research with me, send me an email and we can chat about opportunities, projects, and funding!

I am eager to work with students from diverse backgrounds, but having your degree in some form of natural science will give you a good background knowledge for this type of research (e.g., environmental science, biology, chemistry, ecology etc.). I therefore welcome all applicants, and particularly encourage women, LGBTQ+, as well as black, indigenous and people of colour to apply. Research opportunities can involve hands-on lab work, field studies, and computer-based studies like literature reviewing and analyzing animal behaviour - this means we can usually find a project that suites your interests and abilities.

You can read more about my department’s international masters program in Conservation and Management of Fish and Wildlife.

Open projects

I am currently looking for students for these types of projects. However, my research is always changing and new projects become available all the time that may not be listed here. So please contact me regardless and let me know what you are interested in.

Postdocs and PhD projects

Contact me by email if you are interested in a postdoc or PhD project. We can discuss potential project and funding opportunities.

Masters

I have listed several opportunities here, but I also often have new projects, and I am also excited to hear if you have your own specific idea that would fit into my research prorgamme. Send me an email and we can discuss it.

1. (MSc) - Are chemical pollutants transferred from water to land?

   We know that chemicals pollute aquatic environments, but can they also be transferred to land? We will measure the concentrations of pollutants in water, aquatic insects, and terrestrial predator spiders to determine to what extent contamination is transferred from water to land.

2. (MSc) - Does exposure to a pharmaceutical affect fish behaviour across generations?

   We are starting a new project exposing fish to a common pharmaceutical pollutant over a very long timescale. We will assess how exposure affects behaviour (sociality, aggression, movement) and reproductive success (offspring reared) over multiple generations.

3. (MSc or Bachelors) - Literature review on advanced technologies for reducing pharmaceutical pollution

   Advanced water treatment technologies (e.g., ozone or UV sterilization) are being used to remove chemical pollution from wastewater before it is returned to our rivers, lakes, and streams. But do these new technologies improve fish and habitat health? We will conduct a systematic review of published literature to determine what evidence exists how treatment technologies improve the health of aquatic animals, habitats, and ecosystems.

Bachelors

I often have shorter projects suited for bachelors thesis students. These projects change frequently, so just send me an email to see what type of things I have happening in the lab. :)

1. (Bachelors) - Literature review on advanced technologies for reducing pharmaceutical pollution

   Advanced water treatment technologies (e.g., ozone or UV sterilization) are being used to remove chemical pollution from wastewater before it is returned to our rivers, lakes, and streams. But do these new technologies improve fish and habitat health? We will conduct a systematic review of published literature to determine what evidence exists how treatment technologies improve the health of aquatic animals, habitats, and ecosystems.

Teaching

I lead a course of Fish and Wildlife Management (BI1299) at the Department of Wildlife, Fish and Environmental Studies. This course usually runs in the spring term every year, starting in March. I teach about the sustainable management and harvest of wildlife populations, using a mixtures of classroom and project-based learning. You can read more about the course and information about registration HERE.

I also teach in other courses at our department, including Applied Population Ecology (BI1301) and Ecological Zoology and Entomology (BI1415).