Post-Doctoral Research Position in Quantitative Ecology

The U.S. Geological Survey Eastern Ecological Science Center (EESC), located in Kearneysville West Virginia, USA, seeks to hire a post-doctoral quantitative ecologist. This position is an exciting and challenging opportunity ideally suited for someone interested in developing management-relevant applied science addressing conservation and restoration decisions. The selectee will join a diverse group of researchers (biogeographers, geomorphologists, hydrologists, and ecologists) whose research is designed to evaluate the effects of anthropogenic and climatic stressors on lotic freshwater habitat at multiple spatial and temporal resolutions. Most of the data sets have been compiled, but the selectee will be an active participant in all other phases of the projects including interacting with stakeholders, project planning, data analysis, and scientific publications and must be able to work as part of an extended research team. The selectee will build upon the extensive existing work of this team to develop and implement collaborative research and incorporate findings into integrated assessments of freshwater lotic habitat.

A major component of this position will be to advance our team’s research efforts in the Chesapeake Bay watershed; however, other opportunities exist including a newly started national ecological flows project. Key projects of the selectee will center on integrating ecological theory with advanced quantitative methods (e.g., machine learning, hierarchical models, etc.) to not only evaluate the relationships between anthropogenic and climatic stressors and freshwater condition but also predict conditions, based on optimized models, to unsurveyed reaches and potentially to future periods. Candidates with a strong background in advanced statistical approaches, especially if focused on landscape scale studies, are encouraged to apply. Our work largely centers on benthic macroinvertebrate and fish endpoints, so candidates with research experience on these assemblages would be helpful but is not mandatory.

In addition to producing peer-reviewed publications and presentations at scientific meetings, it is expected that the selected candidate will have regular engagement with managers and policy makers. Our team is highly integrated with stakeholders and regularly interact with them via a variety of platforms including webinars, attendance at stakeholders workshops, and attendance and presentation at local and regional scientific and management meetings.

The position will be hired as a Term position through the USGS Post-Doctoral Program with salary expected to be comparable to a GS-12 position in the Baltimore/DC area with a comparable benefits package. New hires are typically hired at the step 1, which for fiscal year 2021 equates to $87,198 per year (General Schedule (opm.gov). Support is initially available for 2 years with renewal contingent on satisfactory performance and funding availability. The position is located at the USGS Eastern Ecological Science Center (EESC) Center in Kearneysville, West Virginia. To apply, send a cover letter, CV, and contact information for three references to Dr. Kelly Maloney kmaloney@usgs.gov. Review of applications will begin 15 November 2021 and the anticipated start date is early 2022. Applicants must be a citizen of the U.S. and must have received their doctoral or equivalent graduate degree within the past five years. The degree must be in hand by the selectees starting date.