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JAE Intro 2026 Fellowship – JAEINT26_EX_0885: Evaluating strategies to handle spatio-temporal autocorrelation in species distribution models based on tracking data: data thinning and weighting

€600 monthly
Office work Conservation and ecology Marine research

Job Description

At iMARES (ICM‑CSIC), we offer a research internship for bachelor’s or master’s students interested in movement ecology, quantitative modelling and spatial ecology. The project evaluates how different preprocessing strategies affect Species Distribution Models (SDMs) built from animal tracking data, where consecutive locations are not statistically independent.

The study will compare spatial, temporal and spatio‑temporal subsampling methods with data‑weighting approaches that account for autocorrelation, using both simulated and real tracking datasets combined with environmental covariates. The student will assess which strategies provide robust ecological inference and practical guidance for applying SDMs to conservation and wildlife management.

The internship offers training in handling tracking and environmental datasets, R‑based SDM modelling, and reproducible analytical workflows, within a collaborative research environment.

Requirements:

  • University students in the final year of a bachelor’s degree or enrolled in an official master’s degree during the 2025–2026 or 2026–2027 academic year.
  • Bachelor’s degree GPA: 7.5 or higher

Preferred qualifications:

  • Fluency in English
  • Basic knowledge of R programming, spatial ecology or species distribution modelling.
  • Interest in movement ecology or quantitative conservation science.

What We Offer:

  • Duration & Weekly Hours: 7 months, 20 h/week
  • Fellowship: 4,200€ (600€/month)

The principal investigator (IP) will be Zuzana Zajková (zajkova@icm.csic.es )

Requests: https://sede.csic.gob.es/tramites/programa-jae/jae-intro-2026

Career level

Internship

Career options

Academic, research and sciences
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