Review my letter of motivation, please?

Hello,

I am applying for the PhD position in Berlin that will address land use effects on biobiversity on the global and landscape scale. I am not a native English speaker and this position is very important to me, for both academic and personal reasons, so I would appreciate if anyone could review it.

I have read a lot of posts here on this topic and so far I have changed this draft three times but I am still not satisified with it. I think it is too long and I don't have ideas on how to shorthen it. Also, sometimes I am struggling with choosing the right adjectives and expressions. SO, any help will be greatly appreciated.

Here it goes:

Dear Prof. Dr. K.,

I am applying for the PhD position on Biodiversity Conservation and Global Land Use Change (reference number: DR/033/12). My career ambition is to become a researcher in the field of biodiversity conservation, applying statistical and spatial modelling tools to help in the conservation of terrestrial ecosystems and their services. I have just graduated from the Erasmus Mundus Master Course in Applied Ecology where I have done my master thesis in biodiversity conservation under the supervision of PD Heinrich Reck and Prof. Dr. Hartmut Roweck, at the Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel. I will have my Degree and a final transcript of records issued in maximum six weeks.

I obtained my Bachelor of Science degree in Landscape Architecture and Horticulture with a score of 83%. During the studies, I had the opportunity to gain the basic knowledge about landscapes, its attributes and valuation methods, as well as about satellite images and CORINE Land Cover system. The full-semester work with these spatial analysis tools appealed to me so much that I decided to pursue my master studies related to this field.

My graduate studies have introduced me with the basic principles of biodiversity conservation and ecosystem management, as well as with the fundamentals of statistics and ecological and spatial modelling. ..... , I had the opportunity to use the R software to design a model that would predict the population growth of Azores Bullfinch population, native only to São Miguel Island in Portugal, in response to habitat loss caused by the conversion of native Laurel Forest to pastures and introduction of highly aggressive exotic species Pittosporum undulatum in the attempts of afforestation. The challenging work on this population dynamics model made me realize the significance of human-nature conflicts and how inadequate land-use conversion has big negative effects on biodiversity.

Because of my growing interest in spatial statistics, I have taken several courses that required the use of spatial modelling tools. The big challenge was the analysis of the variation of results of measuring ecosystem service provision when the resolution and scale in the valuation method have been different. The method was applied to Bornhöved Lake District in Germany, by comparing CORINE and ATKIS land-use cover types as well as the smaller and larger areas of the study site. Using AsrGIS I tested two different scenarios – conversion of grassland to agriculture land and conversion of agriculture land to forest. In another occasion, I encountered with a very specific task of modeling habitat suitability for Little Owl in the Afferdensche and Deestsche Waarden floodplain in the Netherlands, which is threatened by agriculture-induced habitat fragmentation and excessive Cadmium intake. By using BERISP as decision support system, I proposed an alternative scenario for optimizing natural values of productive areas without impacting local wildlife, that would be acceptable to stakeholders, in accordance with NATURA 2000 framework requirements. The experience with working with these types of spatial models made me realize that finding the balance between sustainability of nature and beneficiaries is a very difficult and delicate task that requires ..... .

My growing interest in biodiversity conservation yielded in my Master’s thesis “Methodology for the establishment of Ecological Networks under the pressure of habitat fragmentation in the Republic of Serbia” that focused primarily on the effects of transportation development on the survival of terrestrial non-flying animal populations in highly fragmented and isolated landscapes. Having gotten familiar with the difficulties in finding a balance between human-well being and protection of wildlife, especially in a developing country such as Serbia, I am positive I want to continue my research addressing these problems.

I would like to make my PhD studies at your department, because it provides a rich infrastructure together with international teams and because I think that its interdisciplinary approach is the best way to provide an excellent basis for my scientific career. Having talked to my professors and several students from your institute, I am confident of my decision. I am convinced that this PhD position meets my research career goals because it allows me to put into practice my two main interests: habitat fragmentation and land-use effects on biodiversity conservation on one hand and spatial ecological modelling on the other. Given my dedication, high academic achievements and strong interest in your department research, I am confident of my capability to succeed in your PhD position. Furthermore, I believe that my international background and interdisciplinary education will add more diversity to your program.

Thank you for considering my application and I look forward to receiving your acceptance.

Sincerely yours,

Vesna Maksimovic