- Montana State University
- Location: Bozeman, Montana
- Category: Postdoctoral-Researcher Other
- Posting Date: 05/13/2022
- Application Deadline: Open until filled
Job Description
Position Details
Position Information
| Announcement Number | STAFF - VA - 22356 |
|---|---|
| For questions regarding this position, please contact: | Dorie Seymour dorie.seymour@montana.edu |
| Classification Title | Postdoctoral Researcher |
| Working Title | Postdoctoral Research Scientist |
| Brief Position Overview | The postdoctoral research scientist will be based in the Department of Land Resources and Environmental Sciences. The successful candidate will lead large-scale research projects focused on understanding how climatic variability and extremes impact the functioning of western US ecosystems. |
| Position Number | 4C0073 |
| Department | Land Resources & Environ Sci |
| Division | College of Agriculture/MAES |
| Appointment Type | Professional |
| Contract Term | Fiscal Year |
| Semester | |
| If other, specify From date | |
| If other, specify End date | |
| FLSA | Exempt |
| Union Affiliation | Exempt from Collective Bargaining |
| FTE | 1.0 |
| Benefits Eligible | Eligible |
| Salary | $50,000 annually, commensurate with experience, education, and qualifications |
| Contract Type | LOA |
| If other, please specify | |
| Recruitment Type | Open |
Position Details
| General Statement | The Environmental Systems Science Lab at Montana State University has an opening for a Postdoctoral Research Scientist to begin summer or fall of 2022. The successful candidate will focus on understanding geospatial variation in the sensitivity of western US ecosystems, such as grasslands, shrublands, and rangelands, to climate variability and extremes (e.g., drought & deluges). |
|---|---|
| Duties and Responsibilities | The research will involve the use and integration of a diversity of remote sensing datasets that include but are not limited to primary productivity, weather, vegetation structure, and vegetation optical depth. The successful candidate will focus on understanding the patterns and mechanisms underpinning the sensitivity of western US ecosystem to different dimension of climate variability, including droughts and deluges. Potential projects include 1) quantifying how interactions between droughts and deluges shape semi-arid grassland functioning, 2) mapping and predicting spatial variation in the influence of previous-year weather on current-year dryland functioning, or 3) unraveling spatial variation in the timing of rangeland sensitivity to rainfall variability. This is a one-year position with the potential for extension pending funding. |
| Required Qualifications – Experience, Education, Knowledge & Skills | A Ph.D. in areas such as ecology, remote sensing, biogeosciences, environmental science, or a related field is required. We are interested in recruiting an enthusiastic and creative scientist who is driven to understand the ecological and agricultural consequences of climate change. Ideal candidates should have one or more of the following experiences: satellite remote sensing/spatial analysis, processing of large data sets, or synthesis of in-situ observations. Strong communication, writing, and programming (e.g., R) skills as well as a promising publication record are highly desirable. |
| Preferred Qualifications – Experience, Education, Knowledge & Skills | Advanced skills in R, python, or related programming languages. Experience with the management, wrangling, and analysis of large datasets. Experience and/or familiarity with spatial analysis and statistics. A background/familiarity with western US ecosystems and grassland ecology is also a plus. |
| The Successful Candidate Will | The successful candidate will lead research projects focused on the impacts of climate change on western US ecosystems. This will involve conceiving and designing research, acquiring, integrating, and analyzing large-scale spatiotemporal datasets, and writing of manuscripts to be submitted to the primary literature. The position may involve the supervision and mentoring of undergraduate and/or graduate students. The candidate will not only have the opportunity to contribute to existing projects but to develop their own projects, to pursue independent funding, and contribute to grant proposals. |
| Position Special Requirements/Additional Information | This job description should not be construed as an exhaustive statement of duties, responsibilities or requirements, but a general description of the job. Nothing contained herein restricts Montana State University’s rights to assign or reassign duties and responsibilities to this job at any time. |
| Physical Demands | To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily with or without reasonable accommodations. The requirements listed above are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. |
| This position has supervisory duties? | No |
Posting Detail Information
| Number of Vacancies | 1 |
|---|---|
| Desired Start Date | Upon completion of a successful search. |
| Position End Date (if temporary) | |
| Open Date | |
| Close Date | |
| Applications will be: | Screening of applications will begin on May 26, 2022; however, applications will continue to be accepted until an adequate applicant pool has been established. |
| Special Instructions | |
| Diversity Statement | Montana State University values diverse perspectives and is committed to continually supporting, promoting and building an inclusive and culturally diverse campus environment. MSU recognizes the importance of work-life integration and strives to be responsive to the needs of dual career couples. In compliance with the Montana Veteran’s Employment Preference Act, MSU provides preference in employment to veterans, disabled veterans, and certain eligible relatives of veterans. To claim veteran’s preference please complete the veteran’s preference information located in the Demographics section of your profile. MSU’s Non-Discrimination Policy and Discrimination Grievance Procedures can be located on the MSU Website: https://www.montana.edu/hr/recruitment/dualcareer.html |
