Research Position Available
Alaska Climate Adaptation Science Center
U.S. Geological Survey
Anchorage, Alaska
Application deadline: 23 May 2022, 3:00 p.m. EDT
For more information and questions, contact:
Jeremy Littell
Email: jlittell [at] usgs.gov
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Alaska Climate Adaptation Science Center (AKCASC) invites applications for a research position. This position is open to U.S. citizens only and will initially be for one year, with the possibility for extension. The position will be located in Anchorage, Alaska, with requests for remote participation may be considered on a case-by-case basis.
The USGS Alaska Climate Adaptation Science Center is a regional center within the National Climate Adaptation Science Center network. The science mission of the CASCs is to “develop science, data, and tools to help natural and cultural resource managers address the impacts of climate change on fish, wildlife, ecosystems, & the communities they support.”
The research will focus on the roles of climate variability and change in forest ecosystem responses in Alaska. Existing downscaled historical climate and future climate projections will be used to evaluate current climatic controls on forest responses (potentially including insect-driven forest mortality, wildfire regimes, or tree growth). The successful candidate will be involved in exploring the statistical modeling of these relationships and developing future plausible impacts for climate futures. The researcher will also be involved in the translational science process – collaborating with land/resource managers or other decision makers to develop information useful in existing planning processes.
Specific project assignments include:
- Participate in dialogues with management partners to assess research needs;
- Perform research and quantitative analysis of climate observations and model projections to evaluate climate impacts on forest processes and forest hydrology, especially those associated with disturbances;
- Perform analysis and synthesis of large volumes of point and gridded climate data to create value-added products, such as maps, data layers, and models;
- Partner with a collaborative, interdisciplinary team of experts to summarize data, design analysis methods, and develop products; and
- Prepare and deliver oral and written summaries syntheses, reports, documents, briefing materials, fact sheets, handouts, and/or summaries of climate science relevant to fish, wildlife, and habitat management partners.
Applicants should have received a doctoral degree in a relevant field, or be currently pursuing the degree with completion by 31 March 2022.
Preferred skills include:
- Familiarity with climate change science and climate impacts assessment, preferably experience analyzing climate data/projections and modeling impacts responses;
- Experience communicating research (oral presentations at conferences, writing/co-writing scientific journal articles, developing other communications materials for professionals or non-scientists);
- Capability in statistical computing, scripting, and/or GIS software such as R, Python, QGIS, or similar, especially ability to process raster and NetCDF datasets;
- Experience with co-production, knowledge-to-action, stakeholder-driven science, translational ecology, or similar; and
- Familiarity with time series analysis, spatial statistics, or hydrologic modeling is desired but not required.
Application deadline: 23 May 2022, 3:00 p.m. EDT
For more information and questions, contact:
Jeremy Littell
Email: jlittell [at] usgs.gov