Postdoctoral Research Associate plant and fire ecology
Post-fire vegetation responses: The Department of Biological Sciences at Humboldt State University (HSU; Arcata, CA, USA) is seeking a full-time, 12 month Postdoctoral Research Associate in the area of plant and fire ecology. The successful applicant will perform field research in northern California, supervise a field crew, conduct data analyses, prepare reports and manuscripts for publication, and maintain lab and equipment organization. The work will focus on characterizing the differences between once and twice burned coniferous forests, specifically using the Sims and Saddle Fires that burned on the Six Rivers and Shasta-Trinity National Forests. The objectives of the work are to understand how fire, and repeated fire, influence plant communities – including tree, shrub, and herbaceous components. The work being conducted is a collaboration with the US Forest Service (USFS), and is a joint project run by Dr. Erik Jules (HSU) and Dr. Ramona Butz (USFS). Additional field-based projects may be pursued depending on the interest of the candidate and include work on knobcone pine expansion in northern California. In addition, this position could include a teaching component, if the candidate is interested in increasing their experience in the classroom (not required). The candidate should have (1) a PhD in biology, forestry, or a related field; (2) strong field-based skills in plant and/or forest ecology; (3) strong quantitative skills; (4) strong GIS, database, and modeling skills; and (5) an interest in fire ecology. Experience with and/or interest in working with LiDAR data is a plus. Salary is $40k with benefits. Start date is flexible but ideally the candidate can begin work in or around January of 2017. Applications should be submitted no later than September 1, 2016 as a single pdf to Erik Jules ([email protected]) and include: (1) a cover letter, (2) a curriculum vitae, (3) a statement describing past research experience and interests, and (4) the names and contact information for three references.
