[ES_JOBS_NET] Postdoctoral position in Forest Demography and Carbon Inventory

[Jessica Guo]

A two-year position for a post-doctoral scholar is available in the
Laboratory of Tree-Ring
Research at the University of Arizona to work on a USDA Forest
Service-funded project
enabling use of the Forest Inventory and Analysis Program’s publicly
available DataBase
(FIADB) as a time series of repeat measurements of trees and plots. The
deliverables of this project include (1) an analytical infrastructure
(e.g., R package) to interface with the FIADB that creates data objects for
analysis of the complete set of records for trees and plots across
visits. In addition, the project involves (2) national-scale analyses of
forest demography, including trends and drivers of growth, recruitment, and
mortality across ecologically and economically coherent regions, with the
goal of assessing past and future forest carbon sequestration as
a “nature-based climate solution”. The opportunity exists to incorporate
annual-resolution tree-ring time series data into these analyses on a
region-specific basis.

The post-doc will be able to participate in all aspects of the project,
with an emphasis on
leveraging Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) census data, and
transforming how they can be used, to better understand U.S. forest
demography and carbon dynamics, with the opportunity to develop lines of
research related to the themes of the lab based on their interests. The
project will be co-supervised by Margaret Evans (Laboratory of Tree-Ring
Research, University of Arizona), Grant Domke (Carbon Science Group,
Northern Research Station, USFS), and Data Scientist Jessica Guo (CCT Data
Science, University of Arizona). Applicants should have a PhD in ecology,
forestry, or a related field with strong statistical and data science
skills, or a PhD in statistics, applied mathematics, or a related field,
with experience or interest in plant or forest ecology. The successful
candidate will have a background and/or strong interest in forest or plant
ecology, demography, ecological forecasting, statistics, dendrochronology,
and/or data
science (including principles of open-source, reproducible science).
Experience working with large relational databases, especially FIADB
itself, strong writing skills and associated publications in the
peer-reviewed literature, communication skills, and mentoring
and collaboration skills are also strongly valued.

The position is funded for two years, beginning as soon as September of
2023, with the
possibility of a year’s extension, depending on job performance. Our
preference is that the
duties are carried out at the Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research on the
University of Arizona campus in Tucson, Arizona, but working remotely is a
possibility. The University of Arizona is a committed Equal
Opportunity/Affirmative Action Institution. Women, minorities, veterans
and individuals with disabilities are encouraged to apply. Situated an hour
and a half from Mexico in the Sonoran desert and Sky Island region of
southeastern Arizona, Tucson has a low cost of living along with a wide
range of opportunities for outdoor recreation and biological and
cultural richness. Three mountain ranges with peaks 3,000 meters ASL
surround the desert city of Tucson. Tucson was the first city in the U. S.
designated as a UNESCO World City of Gastronomy. Interested candidates
should contact Dr. Margaret Evans at mekevans at arizona.edu. Complete
applications must include (1) a cover letter, (2) curriculum vita
(including links to examples of reproducible, open science – e.g., GitHub
handle), and (3) names and contact information for three references.
Applications can be submitted here
<https://arizona.csod.com/ux/ats/careersite/4/home/requisition/16842?c=arizona>,
and will be reviewed until the position is filled.
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