Seeking: Postdoctoral Research Associate in Forest Landscape Ecology at Harvard Forest
In Brief: Post-doc will advance Harvard Forest LTER research in scenario and simulation modeling of land use and climate change impacts on New England forests. Work Location: The post-doc will be based at Harvard Forest in Petersham Massachusetts and work in Jonathan Thompson’s Landscape Ecology Lab In close collaboration with: David Foster, Kathy Lambert and Aaron Ellison of Harvard Forest; Scott Ollinger of U. of New Hampshire; Dave Kittredge of U. of Massachusetts, Rob Lilieholm at U. Maine and Bill Keeton at U. of Vermont. Job Duties: A postdoctoral position is available to advance the objectives of the Harvard Forest LTER Future Scenarios project, including: researching regional-scale ecological consequences of diverse forest uses including biomass energy harvest, conservation, and alternative development patterns; working with stakeholder groups and social scientists to articulate plausible alternative future trajectories of forest land use; simulating forest landscape dynamics and changes in ecosystem processes and services under alternative scenarios of land use and climate change using the LANDIS-II forest landscape model or a similar modeling framework (such as CLM); collaborate with the PIs to publish results in high-impact scientific outlets; and collaborate with the Northeast Science and Policy Consortium to maximize the application and impact of the research. Required Qualifications: Ph.D. (awarded by start date) in forest ecology, forestry, geography, or related field; Capable of conducting complex spatial analyses (e.g. landscape simulation, GIS, remote sensing, and spatial statistics); Skilled at scripting within the R and/or Python programming languages; Evidence of strong scholarship, including peer- reviewed publications; Proven ability to plan and conduct independent research projects from beginning to end Preferred Experience: Research within coupled human-natural systems; quantifying ecosystem services; working with stakeholders to conduct policy relevant research; Ability to program in C++ or C# would be an major asset. Appointment: Initial appointment of one year is renewable for additional years based on performance. Harvard Forest, an internationally recognized center for basic and applied research in ecology, conservation and ecosystem studies, with 40 full-time staff is one of 26 Long Term Ecological Research sites across the country sponsored by the National Science Foundation. The Forest facilities include a research and administrative complex, 3500 acres of land, and residential buildings. The Forest is located in Petersham, a small rural town in north central Massachusetts about 70 miles west of Cambridge. For more information, visit http://harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu. Salary: $44000 plus health insurance benefits through Harvard University To apply: Send CV, PDFs of relevant publications, and the names and contact info for three references to Jonathan Thompson: jtho...@fas.harvard.edu
