Dear Ecologgers - I have a postdoc opening in my lab; please see the description below.
I would very much appreciate it if you could share this announcement with potential applicants. Please feel free to re-post on appropriate job lists. Thanks! Regards, Andrew ***** Title: Postdoctoral Researcher, Harvard University: Crowdsourcing through PhenoCam and Project BudBurst Duties and Responsibilities: The Richardson Lab at Harvard University is hiring a postdoctoral researcher who will join the PhenoCam (http://phenocam.sr.unh.edu/) project, which seeks to understand dynamic interactions between climate change, phenology, and ecosystem function using digital camera imagery to track vegetation phenology in diverse terrestrial ecosystems. The successful applicant, who will have a background in ecology and strong interests in phenology, climate change, and citizen science, will work on a new collaborative effort between PhenoCam and NEON, the National Ecological Observatory Network. Specifically, the successful applicant will work directly with the interdisciplinary team currently participating in PhenoCam, in addition to scientists, educators, and a new postdoc anticipated at NEON, to conduct an ambitious ecology-based crowdsourcing project that contributes to PhenoCam objectives and engages NEON’s Project BudBurst participants in cutting-edge global change science. This project will engage thousands of enthusiastic citizen scientists to assist with the assessment and classification of PhenoCam imagery, and the development of a network of “virtual” PhenoCams using geolocated smartphones running the RePhoto app. The project will support the development of new data sets for validation and calibration of existing computer vision algorithms and routines, and application of these data to address important questions with direct relevance to understanding the biological and ecological consequences of climate change. The project will lay the groundwork for future NEON crowdsourcing programs that are expected to be developed beginning 2015. The position is funded by a two-year grant from NSF. PhenoCam is a collaborative effort between Harvard University, Boston University, the University of New Hampshire, and Washington University, and is supported through NSF’s Macrosystems Biology program. Qualifications: A Ph.D. in ecology, environmental biology, biometeorology, forest science, atmospheric sciences, or a related field, is required. Applicants should be enthusiastic, creative, highly motivated, and excited about the possibilities offered through citizen science and crowdsourcing. Excellent communication skills and a strong publication record are expected. Applicants must also possess very strong quantitative and analytical skills and knowledge of at least one scientific programming language (ideally Python, R, or MATLAB). Experience working with large data sets is desirable. Additional Information: A 12-month commitment is expected; pending satisfactory performance, the position may be renewed for a second year. The position is available beginning this autumn. A start date of October 1, 2013, is preferred. Information about Harvard’s Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology can be found at: http://www.oeb.harvard.edu/ Please submit applications (including cover letter, CV, and the names and contact information for three references) via email (with the subject line “APPLICATION FOR POSTDOCTORAL POSITION”) to: Professor Andrew D. Richardson, [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>. Review of applications will begin on August 31 and will continue until the position is filled. Harvard University is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer.
