The USGS Southwest Biological Science Center in Flagstaff, AZ is hiring a post-doctoral research associate with expertise in plant ecology and remote sensing. The post-doc will conduct research that seeks to understand the vulnerability of vegetation to climate change in national parks across the southwestern U.S. using remote sensing approaches. The post-doc will work with a team of scientist from the U.S. Geological Survey and natural resource managers from the National Park Service (NPS) to integrate and scale-up a large network of field-based vegetation measurements with Landsat and MODIS satellite imagery. The incumbent will assess where vegetation is most vulnerable to climate change across the landscape and determine what physical and biotic factors most strongly influence vegetation responses. The incumbent will take the lead on writing peer-reviewed publications and information briefs for NPS.
Qualifications: 1) U.S. Citizen with Ph.D. in ecology, biology, earth sciences, or environmental studies; 2) Advanced skills in remote sensing and GIS – including processing satellite imagery, building geodatabases, running GIS models and spatial statistics, and experience programming in computer languages; 3) Experience managing and analyzing large ecological datasets and accessing climate, vegetation, and physical databases; 4) Ability to conduct statistical analyses and interpret results (knowing R - statistical language - and experience programming is a plus); 5) Familiarity with grasslands and shrublands of the western U.S., and drivers of vegetation change, including drought, climate change, and land- use intensification. The position is full-time for 12 months. Salary: $62,000/year (GS-11), eligible for benefits. Application: The announcement will open soon (expected the week of 5/26) on https://www.usajobs.gov under job announcement PAC-2014-0500. Questions about the position should be directed to Dr. Seth Munson ([email protected]).
