Postdoctoral Scholar – Quantifying Marine Biodiversity Department of Biological Science, Florida State University
We seek a postdoctoral scholar to join a research project (the Marine Biodiversity Observation Network; mBON; http://sbc.marinebon.org/) focused on quantifying and monitoring marine biodiversity. As part of this project, a range of data on marine biodiversity have been collected and synthesized, including both traditional methods that have been applied for decades (such as diver counts of marine organisms) and cutting-edge techniques that have only recently become possible, including computer vision and environmental DNA. We seek a postdoc who is interested in comparing the effectiveness of these alternative techniques, asking: 1) How do the new techniques compare to more traditional approaches to monitoring? 2) How much better/cheaper would the novel techniques need to be to outperform traditional approaches? 3) Given a fixed budget for monitoring, how should resources be allocated across different techniques? The postdoctoral scholar would be based in the department of Biological Science at Florida State University, supervised by Dr. Andrew Rassweiler, but also would work closely with mBON researchers at the University of California Santa Barbara. The project has considerable technical support for data management, integration and analysis (with data technicians based both at UCSB and at FSU), allowing the postdoc to focus on designing analyses and leading papers. Although this position is focused primarily on the mBON project, the Rassweiler lab is engaged in a diversity of research related to marine community ecology and sustainable fisheries management, with potential opportunities for the postdoc to also engage in these or related projects. The postdoc would be joining a dynamic lab group co-led by Dr. Rassweiler and Dr. Sarah Lester (FSU Department of Geography). http://rassweiler- lab.com/ and https://www.lester-lab.com/. Qualifications: Eligible candidates must hold a PhD in quantitative ecology, statistics, economics or a related discipline at the time of appointment. The postdoctoral scholar must have strong quantitative skills, strong coding skills, experience working with ecological data and a demonstrated ability to publish papers. Experience in marine ecology would be helpful but is not required. Terms: Start date is flexible. Initial appointment will be through December 31, 2019 with a strong possibility of extension beyond that date. FSU offers competitive salary and excellent benefits including access to faculty insurance plan options and Bencor Retirement plan. See http://opda.fsu.edu/ and http://hr.fsu.edu/ for more information. Contact information: Apply by submitting a cover letter, CV, and names and contact information for three professional references as a single PDF to [email protected]. Contact Dr. Andrew Rassweiler at [email protected] with any questions. This position will remain open until filled. Application review will begin on June 1, 2018, although all applications received before June 25 will receive full consideration.
