USGS Post Doctoral Research Position in Ecosystem Services Modeling (Fort Collins, CO)
The USGS Fort Collins Science Center is seeking a postdoctoral researcher in ecosystem services modeling. The researcher will collaborate with a large and diverse scientific team within and beyond USGS in modeling ecosystem services in the U.S. at national and subnational scales. The postdoc will work as part of the USGS Sustaining Environmental Capital (SEC) Initiative team. The goal of the SEC Initiative is to better enable managers to account for the benefits people receive from ecosystem services and provide guidance for using ecosystem service information in management decisions by developing, integrating, and enhancing decision tools and information. The envisioned SEC Initiative will have a physical presence (policy coordination and science efforts) and virtual (on-line) presence referred to as the SEC Dashboard. Research responsibilities will be associated with: applying ecosystem services mapping, modeling, and valuation approaches and tools at the local and regional scales; 2) use of natural capital accounting in natural resource management; and 3) integrating ecosystem services data and tools into the SEC Dashboard for use in public land management decision-making.
Work will primarily be conducted at the Fort Collins Science Center, Colorado. Qualifications: Must be a U.S. citizen within 5 years of receiving a PhD. Experience in GIS and biophysical modeling is required. Experience using ecosystem services tools such as ARIES, SolVES, and InVEST is desired and programming experience using R, Python, or Java is a plus. Compensation is approximately $76,000/year and funding is for up to two years. We seek a candidate able to relocate to Ft. Collins, Colorado and begin work as soon as possible.
Please contact Rudy Schuster (schusterr@usgs.gov) or Ken Bagstad (kjbagstad@usgs.gov) for more information.