Description: TWO POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCHERS are being recruited to work on a two-year ULTRA-Ex project awarded by NSF to the Science Team of Chicago Wilderness, a biodiversity alliance of over 250 organizations in the metropolitan Chicago area [from southern Wisconsin through northern Illinois and Indiana into southwest Michigan (www.chicagowilderness.org)]. The Chicago Wilderness science team includes researchers from a wide range of key Chicago-area universities and research organizations. The Chicago ULTRA-Ex project has three major objectives: OBJ 1: Critically examine the connections between the biodiversity-recovery goals of the region-wide Green Infrastructure Vision of Chicago Wilderness and the delivery of critical ecosystem services (from the cultural to the biogeochemical) to human communities throughout the Chicago region.
OBJ 2: Research options for a multi-faceted Chicago ULTRA-Hub. The Hub will include an interactive web-based platform for managing data, communicating research findings to planners and the public, and collaborating and interacting with scientists and practitioners. The ULTRA Hub will also be an umbrella center for urban ecosystem research and policy, and will partner with regional education and outreach programs. A pilot “proof-of-concept” version will be launched within two years. OBJ 3: Through a series of outreach and education activities (e.g. a metropolitan-wide graduate course; quarterly meetings of area researchers, planners and land managers), develop the integrated theoretical and empirical framework for a long-term socio-ecological research program in the Chicago metropolitan region. Duties: The two ULTRA-Ex postdocs will interact closely with two other postdoctoral researchers (an ecologist and a social scientist) supported by a recent award to the CW Science Team from the NSF Program in the Dynamics of Coupled Human-Natural Systems. The CW Science Team includes ecologists, environmental social scientists, conservation biologists, modelers and urban planners from the City of Chicago Department of the Environment, DePaul University, Field Museum, Lincoln Park Zoo, Loyola University, Purdue University, University of Illinois at Chicago, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and the USDA Forest Service Northern Research Station. Practitioners from the City of Chicago and other groups are integral to the team. We are seeking creative, innovative, interdisciplinary researchers who will work with the CW Science Team to forge exciting new directions in the ecology of complex metropolitan socio-ecological systems. Successful applicants will have broad interdisciplinary experience and proven accomplishments in research on the dynamics of socio-ecological systems. Postdoctoral applicants are sought with a range of skills that will qualify them for one of two positions: Position 1: Green Infrastructure and Ecosystem Services (Objective 1) Position 2: Environmental/Ecological Informatics (Objective 2) Both postdocs will work on Objective 3 in addition to the first or second objective. Each postdoc will work with the entire Chicago Wilderness Science Team, but will have a smaller set of mentors with whom they will interact most closely. Qualifications: The ideal candidate for Position 1 will have expertise in landscape level and multi-scalar modeling of ecosystem services (e.g. carbon, water, biodiversity), spatial analysis skills, and familiarity with advances in urban socio-ecological theory and research. The ideal candidate for Position 2 will have expertise in cutting-edge computing platforms (e.g., TeraGRID), ecological metadata language skills, strong knowledge of cyber-infrastructure tools (e.g., php, tcl/tk, ArcSDE), including hub technologies, and other aspects of environmental/ecological informatics. Familiarity with tools like GeoServer, ArcServer or MapServer, and experience with data management within the LTER network, would be a plus. Both positions require a completed PhD (within the last 3 years), excellent writing and oral communication skills, and experience and interest in collaborative, transdisciplinary research. Salary, Benefits and Starting Date: The positions are for two years; the package includes a competitive salary, health benefits and travel funds. Each postdoc will have office space at one or more of the participating institutions, as well as office space in a suite for all four postdocs at the centrally located University of Illinois at Chicago. We are seeking applicants who can start as soon as possible. Evaluation of applications will begin September 20, 2010. Application Procedure: Qualified applicants should submit a letter of application that identifies for which of the two positions they are applying, and that explains how their accomplishments and professional goals qualify them for the position; curriculum vitae; copies of all college transcripts (official transcripts required upon hire), copies of up to 3 publications, and full contact information for 3 referees. These materials must be submitted online at https://jobs.uic.edu/default.cfm?page=job&jobID=3484 NOTE: The research grant funding these positions is being administered by the Institute for Environmental Science and Policy (IESP) at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). The online application site at UIC states that the closing date is September 20. Applications will be evaluated starting September 20, but applications received after that date will be considered if suitable candidates have not yet been identified. Applications will be considered until the two positions are filled. For more information about the research program and these positions, please contact: --- David Wise, University of Illinois at Chicago (dhw...@uic.edu) --- Lynne Westphal, USDA Forest Service (lwestp...@fs.fed.us) --- Liam Heneghan, DePaul University (lhene...@depaul.edu) --- Bryan Pijanowski, Purdue University (bpija...@purdue.edu) UIC is an Affirmative Action / Equal Opportunity Employer
