POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCH OPPORTUNITY
Forest Carbon Offsets and Ecosystem Services
in the Willamette River Basin, Oregon
Through: National Research Council – Research Associateship Program
Location: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Western Ecology
Division, Corvallis, OR
The EPA is soliciting applications to the NRC Research Associateship
Program for postdoctoral research at its Western Ecology Division in
Corvallis, OR. A general description of the Research Opportunity in
“Climate Change and Ecosystem Services in the Willamette River Basin,
Oregon” can be found at:
http://nrc58.nas.edu/pgasurvey/data/aobooks/rapbooks.asp?mode=rodetail&roid=50798&pcd=220209
A current focus of EPA’s Global Change Research Program is environmental
effects of greenhouse gas mitigation technologies. One such approach is
managing forests for CO2 sequestration to offset CO2 emissions. Under
potential CO2 cap-and-trade programs, this could lead to marketable C
credits (subject to “baseline”, “additionality”, “permanence”, and
“leakage” constraints). Because of this focus, at this time we are
specifically soliciting proposals related to question 2 in the Research
Opportunity listing: “What would be the impact on other ecosystem
services of programs directed toward carbon [C] sequestration to offset
emissions?” The geographic area of interest is the Willamette River
Basin, which is the focus of an EPA “place-based” case study of
ecosystem services.
Applicants should have strong quantitative skills, and background in
several of the following areas: forest ecology; forest management;
forest economics; C cycling; GIS; and modeling of forest dynamics,
hydrology (water quantity and quality), wildlife-habitat relationships,
or other areas related to ecosystem services provided by forests.
Applicants will need to submit a proposal to NRC (for details see
http://sites.nationalacademies.org/pga/RAP/index.htm ), but should first
contact the Research Adviser (Don Phillips, 541-754-4485,
[email protected]; or Peter Beedlow, 541-754-4634,
[email protected]) to discuss the mutual interest of the proposed
research. The application deadline to NRC is August 1, 2009.
Applications after this date may be considered in the next review cycle
(applications deadline November 1, 2009) if an award is not made during
the earlier cycle.
The research would take place at the EPA’s Western Ecology Division in
Corvallis, OR. NRC postdoctoral stipends at EPA are $50,000 per year,
with additional allowances for relocation, travel, and group health
insurance. NRC Postdoctoral positions are available for applicants
within 5 years after receiving their Ph.D. The position is available
for a minimum of two years, with extension possible pending research
progress and future availability of funds.
