Postdoctoral Fellow for Climate Change and Water Relations in Perennial Specialty Crops – USDA California Climate Hub and the John Muir Institute of the Environment Overview: USDA's Climate Hubs are a unique collaboration across USDA agencies. They are led by Agricultural Research Service and Forest Service Senior Directors located at ten regional locations, with contributions from many other programs including the Natural Resources Conservation Service, Farm Service Agency, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, and the Risk Management Agency. The Climate Hubs link USDA research and program agencies in their regional delivery of timely and authoritative tools and information to agricultural producers and professionals.
Position Summary: The USDA California Climate Hub in partnership with The John Muir Institute of the Environment at UC Davis have an opening for a Postdoctoral Fellow in climate and water use in perennial crops. The ideal candidate will possess excellent written and oral communication skills, ability to work as part of a large interdisciplinary team, and skills to integrate a variety of climate, ecosystem, and plant models. Relevant experience includes hydrology, agricultural science, GIS, modeling (climate, ecosystem, and/or plant), and remote sensing. The successful candidate will work with a diverse team of researchers at USDA Climate Hubs, Agricultural Research Service, UC Davis, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. The Challenge: California is leading the world in production and export of agricultural products from the perennial specialty crop industry. At the same time the state is expected to experience projected increased temperatures by mid- and end century coupled with more limited water access that may influence what different crops can tolerate and where in the state they can be grown. Understanding the resultant balance among climatically induced stressors, physiological water stress tolerance and associated adaptive capacity will be critically important for the specialty crop industry and water management districts and municipalities. The postdoc will examine interactions between climate change, physiological drought tolerance/water use efficiency and agricultural management to address water management and climate adaptation approaches for woody perennial crops under expected mid- to end-century temperature and climatic conditions. The successful candidate is expected to investigate individual plant to ecosystem responses in perennial cropping systems to modeled temperature and precipitation projections, and incorporate drought stress and/or tolerance into model projections to improve irrigation management and adaptation practices and measures. The project goals are to inform crop type by location (site) investments related to the implementation of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA), inform regional irrigation districts for design management/water delivery plans, as well as to produce work publishable in traditional academic journals. What is required • PhD in the agricultural, crop or plant sciences, crop or plant modeling, applied mathematics or computational science or closely related field. • Research experience and knowledge in computing and/or code development ideally for agricultural science applications. • Ability to work productively both independently and as part of an interdisciplinary team balancing divergent objectives involving research and code development. • Demonstrated experience with research in the field of applied ecology. • Record of scientific publications in the field of agricultural science, ecology and/or environmental biology. Candidate Instruction: Please send (1) a CV, (2) copies of unofficial transcripts and (3) a cover letter describing experience, potential research interests, and general career goals and 4) contact information for 3 professional references (one being your dissertation advisor). Materials received by April 10, 2018, will receive full consideration. When Applying: • Please do include a cover letter introducing yourself and your application. • Either a Curriculum Vitae or Resume are acceptable. • In your cover letter or CV/Resume please do call out any and all technical skills you have that are relevant to this position. • A list of publications is encouraged. • Provide contact information for three references whom we can contact regarding your application • Send your application materials before April 10, 2018 to: [email protected] AND [email protected] with Climate and Water Use Postdoc in Subject line. Candidates interested in more information on the research project can contact: Dr. Steven Ostoja ([email protected]), Director, USDA California Climate Hub, Agricultural Research Service, and John Muir Institute of the Environment, University of California, Davis
