Postdoctoral fellowships to study drought-induced forest mortality at Los Alamos National Laboratory.
Summary: Postdoctoral positions are available within the Earth and Environmental Sciences Division to work on 1) forest mortality modeling, 2) remote sensing of vegetation dynamics, and 3) empirical physiology of vegetation mortality at local to global scales. Successful applicants in the modeling realm will work with the most recent version of the Community Land Model (Ecosystem Demography) (CLM(ED)) in collaboration with the National Center for Atmospheric Research and other DOE national laboratories. The successful applicants in the remote sensing realm will assist with mortality monitoring, interpretation, and application to testing of models at multiple scales (regional to global). The successful applicants in the physiological realm will work on an ecosystem-scale drought and heat manipulation study in a pine-juniper woodland located in New Mexico, with the secondary goal of integrating closely with the modeler and remote sensing scientists. All postdocs will be expected to focus on mortality hypotheses testing and publishing their results. Opportunities to engage with DOEs Next Generation Ecosystem Experiment-Tropics exist and will be promoted. We encourage applicants who can work across disciplines and draw upon large and unique data sets to study linkages between large-scale forest processes and global climatic change. Required skills for modeling include experience using numerical simulation models to predict vegetation dynamics. Required skills for remote sensing include experience using remote sensing techniques to quantify and interpret vegetation changes. Required skills for empirical physiology include experience conducting field work such as with infra-red gas analyzers, sapflow instrumentation, and data loggers. Required skills for all positions include demonstrated ability to publish peer-reviewed papers, effective written and oral communication skills, willingness to work in a team environment, and a Ph.D. pending or received within the last five years. Desired skills include knowledge of physiological, ecosystem, population, or community ecology, fortran programming and experience on linux environment for modeling candidates, and MODIS or LANDSAT experience for remote sensing candidates For more information or to apply please send a resume and a short statement of your future research goals to Nate McDowell (mcdow...@lanl.gov, https://sites.google.com/site/lanlveg/home). Candidates may be considered for a Director's Fellowship and outstanding candidates may be considered for the prestigious J. Robert Oppenheimer, Richard P. Feynman or Frederick Reines Fellowships. For general information about LANLs postdoctoral program please refer to the http://www.lanl.gov/careers/career-options/postdoctoral-research/postdoc-program/index.php.
