Research Assistant, Fire and Restoration Ecology
Public Lands Institute
The Public Lands Institute at the University of Nevada Las Vegas invites
applications for a full-time Research Assistant position to carry out
research on an interagency Joint Fire Science project in collaboration with
the National Park Service (Lake Mead National Recreation Area) and the
Bureau of Land Management (Las Vegas Field Office). The position will be
based primarily at UNLV but also at National Park Service offices in Boulder
City, Nevada. This is a full-time, externally funded position with two years
of funding and with benefits. The project will focus on identifying
successful native species suitable for revegetating desert burns in the
Mojave Desert. The West is burning up, and currently little information is
available to resource managers on techniques for revegetating burns and on
native species that can establish on burns infested by exotic annual
grasses. The project will involve a mix of controlled experiments and field
studies. This project is a good fit for candidates interested in fire
ecology, plant ecology, and restoration ecology, and their application to
making progress on an urgent resource management problem.
The project was recently featured in a news release on the UNLV website:
http://publicaffairs.unlv.edu/newsArchive-PublicAffairs.html (June 2007)
Las Vegas is a large urban area, but is surrounded by millions of hectares
of public land. Public lands accessible in less than a 45-minute drive from
Las Vegas include the 600,000-ha Lake Mead National Recreation Area
(National Park Service), 80,000-ha Red Rock Canyon National Conservation
Area (Bureau of Land Management), 600,000-ha Desert National Wildlife Refuge
(Fish and Wildlife Service), and the 130,000-ha Spring Mountains National
Recreation Area (Forest Service). Plant communities span desert creosote
scrub to high-elevation bristlecone pine forests. Outdoor recreation
opportunities abound year round.
Responsibilities: The successful candidate will conduct research in
collaboration with UNLV co-PIs on the project, federal resource managers
with NPS and BLM, and where appropriate with other Research Assistants in
our vegetation program. Specific research responsibilities will include
growing native plants for experiments, establishing and maintaining
experimental native communities in greenhouse and field settings, conducting
field studies and monitoring of plant community establishment on desert
burns in southern Nevada, and measuring competitive interactions and
invasibility of native communities and exotic species control treatments.
The candidate also will be expected to author or co-author peer-reviewed
publications and technical reports targeted for resource managers, to
provide support for gathering literature and technical writing, and to
prepare or assist in the preparation of scholarly presentations at
professional meetings and conferences. The position requires intermittent
local travel to research sites in southern Nevada within approximately one
hour of Las Vegas.
Minimum Required Qualifications: Masters degree from an accredited college
or university in botany, ecology, biology, natural resources management, or
a closely related field, with course work in plant taxonomy, plant
identification, plant ecology or weed science. A minimum of one year
comparable experience in related fieldwork and demonstrated knowledge of
plant taxonomy and plant identification is required. Working knowledge of
major native and exotic species of the southwestern United States may be
substituted for plant taxonomy. Working knowledge of Microsoft Office
programs and GPS/GIS required, in addition to knowledge of accurate data
processing and manipulating, as demonstrated by successful examples from
thesis work or professional employment. Ability to obtain a Nevada drivers
license required. The candidate must be able to perform fieldwork in the
hot, desert climate and rough terrain of southern Nevada to accomplish
project objectives.
Preferred Qualifications: A field-based or experimental thesis project that
focused on vegetation; four-wheel drive experience; experience in field
orientation (i.e., navigation with map and compass); interest or experience
in writing scientific manuscripts for submission to peer-reviewed journals
or other outlets; interest or experience in restoration ecology and
supporting the application of ecologically based management prescriptions on
the ground; and familiarity with southwestern desert ecosystems.
Desired Characteristics: Ability to work as a team member; excellent
writing, interpersonal communication, and organizational skills; ability to
build and sustain collaborative relationships among diverse groups of
people; ability to analyze situations and data trends and apply to job
responsibilities; self-motivation; interest in scholarly activity and
publications; familiarity with land management
