Climate Change and Colorado Plateau Ecosystems
***ONLY U.S. CITIZENS ELIGIBLE TO APPLY***
A postdoctoral/masters position is available at the USGS Canyonlands
Research Station located in Moab, UT. The successful candidate will work
on a collaborative project examining how climate change (experimentally
manipulations with heating lamps and watering treatments) will affect
soils, biological soil crusts, plants, and nutrient cycles of the Colorado
Plateau. Within the framework of this large, DOE-funded experiment, this
position will: 1) oversee treatments and supervise technicians helping
with data collection, 2) synthesize data to explore patterns of climate
change linkages to ecosystem function, 3) effectively use statistical
analyses to assess effects, and 4) communicate results in presentations
and peer-reviewed publications. This experiment offers an exciting
opportunity to elucidate how climate change – predicted to be notably
strong on the Colorado Plateau – will affect the plants, soils, and
ecosystem function of the region. Specifically, this position will focus
on 1) how treatments affect plant cover, physiology (e.g., gas exchange,
fluorimeter), and phenology and 2) exploring why lichens and mosses are
dying under the imposed treatments (e.g., lack of osmoprotectants or UV
pigments?), using a combination of laboratory and field experiments. A
Ph.D./Master degree is required and a background in laboratory and field
methods in ecology, plant/moss/lichen physiology, and/or biogeochemistry
is preferred. The Canyonlands Research Station is a USGS-BRD facility and
the successful applicant would be working with Drs. Jayne Belnap and Sasha
Reed. Moab, UT is a small town offering a variety of outdoor adventures,
and more information about Moab can be found at www.discovermoab.com.
SALARY AND START DATE: Salary depends on degree: for PhD, is $47,500/year
and Masters is $38,800 plus full benefits. Preferred start date is late
fall, 2012. Position is expected to last 1.5 years, but possibly longer.
APPLICATIONS: Interested individuals should submit a cover letter,
curriculum vitae, and three references to Sasha Reed (scr...@usgs.gov or
mailed to 2290 S.W. Resource Blvd., Moab, UT 84532). Electronic
applications are preferred.
