[Srm] Fw: Jobs and Postdocs

[Mcclaran, Mitchel P - (mcclaran)]

________________________________
From: Rangeland Section at ESA <rangebiz at gmail.com>
Sent: Monday, April 6, 2015 8:13 AM
Subject: Jobs and Postdocs


Rangeland Related Positions included in this post:



Faculty Positions

  *   Natural Resource Management: The University of California, Merced



Federal Positions

  *   Assistant Director, Resources and Planning, Bureau of Land Management, DOI.

  *   Supervisory Soil Conservationist, Natural Resources Conservation Service, USDA.

  *   Rangeland Management Specialist, Bureau of Land Management, DOI.



Postdoctoral Positions

  *   Conservation Biology: The Institute for Wildlife Studies.

  *   Biodiversity and Metagenomics of the Herbivore Microbiome: The Dearing lab at the University of Utah

  *   Molecular Evolution of Plant-Animal Interactions: The Dearing lab at the University of Utah



Graduate Program Positions

  *   Texas A&M University: Ecophysiology of loblolly pine drought tolerance (PhD)

  *   Montana State University: Fire, climate, & human influences on forest-steppe vegetation dynamics (PhD)

  *   University of Alberta: relationship between grazing, rangeland health and biodiversity in Alberta's grasslands (MS)

  *   University of North Dakota: The Earth System Science & Policy Department<http://essp.und.edu/> (MS and PhD)





Faculty Positions



Natural Resource Management: The University of California, Merced invites applications for a ladder-rank faculty position at the Associate or Full Professor level in Natural Resource Management of Public Lands and Protected Areas. We seek a distinguished scholar who will provide leadership in establishing a program of international stature within the interdisciplinary area of adaptive management of complex coupled human (legal, administrative, economic, cultural) and natural (ecological, climatic, geologic, hydrologic) systems to sustain native species, ecosystems, and landscapes, and to preserve cultural heritage. We seek a leader in scholarship and practice that addresses lands and resource management broadly in the context of changing global earth systems and governance, including conservation, ecosystem services and climate adaptation. Appropriate candidates will have distinguished research, educational, and leadership experience that emphasizes science, conservation, social science, and/or management. The ideal candidate will bridge science and management, and will lead efforts to develop interdisciplinary research and education programs at UC Merced associated with science, management, and sustainability of public lands and protected areas, such as national parks. The Sierra Nevada Research Institute and other campus units provide excellent opportunities for interdisciplinary research collaboration as well as established collaborations with external stakeholders. The campus’ proximity to Yosemite National Park and several National Forests, and existing relationships with these entities, provides an excellent opportunity to build partnerships for research and practice in natural resource management in nearby parks and protected areas. The primary appointment may be in Natural Science, Social Sciences, or Engineering, or may be a joint appointment between schools. The successful candidate is expected to participate actively in the development of innovative, interdisciplinary graduate and undergraduate programs in the future School of Management, and to contribute to the teaching and mentoring of a diverse student population. Requirements: Ph.D. in a relevant field and exemplary research, publication, and teaching commensurate with a faculty appointment at the University of California at the appropriate level. Evaluation of applications will begin April 15, 2015. Applications must be submitted via https://aprecruit.ucmerced.edu/apply/JPF00197, and must include 1) a cover letter, 2) curriculum vitae 3) statement of research, 4) statement of teaching, and 5) names of five references with contact information, including mailing address, phone number, and email address. For additional information about this position, contact Professor LeRoy Westerling at awesterling at ucmerced.edu<mailto:awesterling at ucmerced.edu>.





Federal Positions (usajobs.gov<http://usajobs.gov>)



Assistant Director, Resources and Planning, Bureau of Land Management, DOI. Senior Executive Service. Washington, DC. Job announcement number: WO-EIT-2015-0001. As Assistant Director for Resources and Planning, the incumbent is responsible for establishing and coordinating policy and guidance for BLM's planning and resources programs, including rangeland and forest management, riparian, watershed, wildlife habitat and fisheries management, threatened and endangered species, wild horses and burros, recreation use, cultural heritage, paleontology community, support programs, and geographic information systems. Develops and maintains processes and standards for planning and renewable resource activities, including physical, biological, ecological, social and economic components; the use of fire in maintaining or improving ecological health, monitoring industry trends and their impact on planning and renewable resource activities, and maintaining government to government relationships with tribes. The Assistant Director provides leadership for and develops national partnerships with organizations interested in renewable resources and planning.The Assistant Director exercises leadership and authority for the Bureau's responsibilities to provide policy and procedural guidance for inventorying, assessing, monitoring and reporting ecosystem and resource conditions; analyzing social and economic trends; planning for the use of public land resources, and managing geographic and spatial data. The incumbent performs wide ranging and substantive policy and managerial actions for the Director to promote interagency coordination, cooperation, collaboration; to effectively build and manage work teams and processes; and provide policy analysis of the Bureau's mission, performance goals, and activities. As a member of the Bureau executive leadership team; ensures the coordination, communication and collaboration to promote healthy, productive and diverse resources within the Bureau, the Department, and among other Federal, State and local agencies, the environmental and business communities, universities, Native American tribes, and other appropriate parties.



Supervisory Soil Conservationist, Natural Resources Conservation Service, USDA. GS-15. Greensboro, NC. Job announcement number: 24HQ-NRCS-MA-2015-0628. USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) helps America’s farmers and ranchers conserve the Nation’s soil, water, air and other natural resources. We need people who want to apply their education and experience to make sure we all enjoy the benefits of productive soil, clean water, clean air, and abundant wildlife that come from a healthy environment.  “Helping People Help the Land” http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/<http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/site/national/home/>. This position serves as the National Soil Health Team Leader on the NRCS Soil Health Division and is supervised by the Soil Health Division Director.  The incumbent serves as the national expert to lead NRCS strategies and priorities by providing technical assistance to landowners, conservation partners, NRCS personnel, and other interested parties in all phases of conservation cropping systems that lead to the conservation and efficient use of natural resources, maintains environmental quality related to soil, water, animal, plant, air, and energy conservation issues, and improves productivity of food, feed, fiber, and fuel.  Assigned duties are on a national basis. The incumbent serves as the national team leader for soil health conservation activities associated with agricultural lands, and works closely with other members of the National and State Office, National Technology Support Centers, partnership staff, and the private sector to identify issues, research solutions, and provide training and assistance to field staff on appropriate needs.  The incumbent stays current on the latest technology related to conservation cropping systems and incorporates it into NRCS technical material.  The incumbent works with other partners, producer groups, and others with similar interests.  The incumbent works with other members of the National Office Technology Staff, State Staff, other Deputy Areas (especially Science and Technology; and Soil Science and Resource Assessment), National Technology Service Centers, and producers to incorporate conservation cropping systems benefits and activities into resource management systems activities and programs throughout the country.



Rangeland Management Specialist, Bureau of Land Management, DOI. GS-11. Silt, Colorado. Job announcement number: CO-DEU-2015-0034. This position serves as a Rangeland Management Specialist. Major duties include but are not limited to: plans, manages, produces, and implements allotment evaluations for assigned allotments; provides and coordinates oversight and review of field and district office range documents for NEPA adequacy; reviews grazing permit applications to ensure compliance with appropriate federal law and regulations;  processes protests and appeals, prepares casework in preparation for hearings; and provides input to interdisciplinary reports, environmental assessments, resource management plans, and protective stipulations for rangeland ecosystems.





Postdoctoral Positions



Conservation Biology: Post Doctoral Position at the Institute for Wildlife Studies. We are seeking a postdoctoral researcher to collaborate in a multi-investigator study to determine what ecological and environmental factors make a species more or less likely to become conservation reliant due to environmental change. The study involves researchers from the Institute for Wildlife Studies (B. Hudgens), Duke University (W. Morris), North Carolina State University (N. Haddad), Virginia Tech University (J. Walters) and Point Blue Conservation Science (L. Stenzel). The postdoctoral researcher will be responsible for establishing and managing demographic studies on amphibians and butterflies at multiple locations along the West Coast, and for working with all collaborating investigators to meet project reporting requirements. The project is funded by the Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program (SERDP) of the Department of Defense. The ideal candidate will have strong quantitative, field, and especially communication skills along with an interest in working with a broad range of taxa, especially frogs and butterflies. Experience working with ranid frogs and fritillary butterflies is desirable. Additional desirable skills are: familiarity with population and movement models, R, GIS software, climate models, and climate downscaling techniques. The position will be hosted by the Institute for Wildlife Studies in Arcata, California, but will require extensive travel, primarily in southern and central coastal California. Interested candidates should send a current CV, a brief (~2 pages) statement of past research accomplishments as well as a statement of how those experiences quality the candidate for this position, and the names and addresses (including email) of three references to Brian Hudgens via email (hudgens at iws.org<mailto:hudgens at iws.org>). Anticipated start date is May 1, 2015, or as soon thereafter as a suitable candidate is identified.



Biodiversity and Metagenomics of the Herbivore Microbiome: The Dearing lab at the University of Utah invites applications for a postdoctoral fellow to participate in a collaborative study to understand the gut microbiome of mammalian herbivores with respect to detoxification of plant defensive compounds. Our investigations suggest 1) the microbiome in the foregut of woodrats is critical for the ingestion of dietary toxins, 2) microbial biodiversity is important in this process and 3) previous exposure to toxins shapes the microbiome. More information on previous research<http://biologylabs.utah.edu/dearing/Lab/publications.html>. This postdoctoral position will focus on the influences of host evolutionary history and diet in sculpting the diversity and function of the mammalian microbiome. One component of this will be a broad survey of microbiomes and phylogeny across the woodrat genus (*Neotoma). *The ideal candidate will have a strong interest and experience in microbial ecology and metagenomics, with experience in gut systems preferably of vertebrates. Basic bioinformatic and molecular skills are required. Fieldwork for small mammal collection will be necessary; prior experience preferred but not required. The candidate should have a demonstrated record of publication with at least one first authored publication in press, and will be expected to work well in a collaborative environment. The Dearing lab provides a strong training and career development environment for candidates interested in academic positions. Applications will be reviewed as they are received until the position is filled. The preferred start date is June 15, 2015. Please send cover letter, C.V., statement of research experience and interests that includes career goals (1-2 pgs), pdfs of papers, and contact information (emails, phone numbers and professional relationship) for at least 3 professional references to Dr. Denise Dearing, denise.dearing at utah.edu<mailto:denise.dearing at utah.edu>; please put “Microbiome Postdoctoral Applicant” in the Subject Line.



Molecular Evolution of Plant-Animal Interactions: The Dearing lab at the University of Utah invites applications for a postdoctoral fellow to participate in a study to understand the co-evolution of mammalian herbivores and plant defensive compounds. This collaborative project will investigate the role of a subfamily of detoxification enzymes with respect to dietary strategy. Few mammalian herbivores are capable of dietary specialization. Our preliminary data suggest the cytochrome P450 2B subfamily is critical in the biotransformation of plant secondary compounds, particularly terpenes. These enzymes may play a key role in dietary specialization since substrate specificity and catalytic efficiency of CYP2B enzymes can be greatly affected by small changes in amino acid sequence. The change of even a single amino acid, particularly in critical regions such as a substrate recognition site, can have notable effects on metabolism of substrates. Thus, the structure and copy number of CYP2B genes may be key in an herbivore’s ability specialize on a terpene-rich diet. The future work consists of characterizing and comparing the amino acid sequences of CYP2B enzymes of specialist and generalist woodrats (*Neotoma spp.*) and possibly other terpene feeders. We are currently sequencing the genome of *Neotoma lepida* with assembly expected by April 1, 2015. The successful applicant will use this new genomic information to amplify and sequence CYP2B genes from a variety of wild mammalian species, compare predicted protein sequence with respect to degree of dietary specialization, and characterize the function of the proteins purified from heterologous expression systems to determine the structural basis of functional differences. The applicant may also conduct enzyme assays. This research is a collaborative project with Dr. James Halpert, UConn and provides possibilities for interactions with his research group. For more information on previous research, see:http://biologylabs.utah.edu/dearing/Lab/pdf/2012_journal_pone.pdf http://biologylabs.utah.edu/dearing/Lab/pdf/2009_expression_biotrans_magnanou.pdf The ideal candidate will have experience accessing and evaluating genomic data, using molecular techniques, experience with biochemical analyses and have an interest in addressing questions of molecular evolution, molecular ecology or plant-animal interactions. Animal collection fieldwork is possible. The candidate should have at least one first authored publication in press. The Dearing lab provides a strong training and career development environment for candidates interested in academic positions. Applications will be reviewed as they are received. The preferred start date is July 6, 2015, with an earlier start date possible. Please send a cover letter, C.V., statement of research interests that includes career goals (1-2 pgs), pdfs of papers, and contact information (emails and phone numbers) for at least 3 professional references to Dr. Denise Dearing, denise.dearing at utah.edu<mailto:denise.dearing at utah.edu>; please put “Postdoctoral Applicant CYP2B” in the Subject Line.





Graduate Program Positions



Texas A&M University: Ecophysiology of loblolly pine drought tolerance (PhD). We seek an independent, motivated PhD student to study the phenotypic traits that contribute to drought tolerance in loblolly pine. The student will join an active, multidisciplinary research group and will be funded by a new research assistantship that provides stable funding for at least three years. Research will focus on glasshouse and field manipulations of clonal material and will be designed to characterize physiological and morphological responses of loblolly genotypes to water limitation. Several tools for trait characterization are available to the student, including gas exchange and water use measurements, indirect assessments of physiology and resource use via stable isotopes (d13C, d18O, d15N), or canopy and root characterization with a terrestrial LiDAR system. The student will be affiliated with the USDA funded “Pine Integrated Network: Education, Mitigation, and Adaptation project (PINEMAP)<http://pinemap.org/>” and will interact with a diverse and active student body on campus and across the network. A background in plant physiology, ecology, forestry, biology, or environmental science is preferred. The student would join the Department of Ecosystem Science and Management at Texas A&M University<http://essm.tamu.edu/> beginning Fall 2015. Funding includes a generous stipend, benefits, and a tuition waiver. If you are interested in this position, please contact Jason West<https://sites.google.com/site/westlabgroup/> (jbwest at tamu.edu<mailto:jbwest at tamu.edu>) or Jason Vogel (jason_vogel at tamu.edu<mailto:jason_vogel at tamu.edu>) with a curriculum vitae and statement of purpose. A final application will require GRE scores, letters of recommendation, and transcripts. Further information about application procedures may be obtained by contacting Sara Eliason (Sara.Eliason at agnet.tamu.edu<mailto:Sara.Eliason at agnet.tamu.edu>).



Montana State University: Fire, climate, & human influences on forest-steppe vegetation dynamics (PhD): The Ecosystem Dynamics lab<http://poulterlab.com/> in the Department of Ecology at Montana State University, Bozeman is looking for a PhD student to study forest-steppe vegetation dynamics. Climate, fire, and humans, and their interactions, strongly influence vegetation dynamics over varying temporal and spatial scales and to better understand these relationships, the project partners with a paleoecology team (Drs. Cathy Whitlock/MSU and Jed Kaplan/UNIL) to develop a biogeography/biogeochemistry ecosystem model to investigate late-Holocene forest-steppe vegetation patterns in Patagonia. A highly motivated student, who is interested in field ecology, theoretical ecology, and ecosystem modeling, is desired. Experience in either ecology, environmental science, and computer programming is a plus, but not required. Please send questions and/or application materials to Dr. Ben Poulter (benjamin.poulter at montana.edu<mailto:benjamin.poulter at montana.edu>). Application materials should include a 1-page letter of interest, a 2-page CV, and contact information for three references. Closing date is May 1, 2015, with a start date for August 2015.



University of Alberta: relationship between grazing, rangeland health and biodiversity in Alberta's grasslands (MS). The successful candidate will be co-supervised by Drs. Cameron Carlyle and Edward Bork (Dept. of Agricultural, Food and Nutritional Science) and work with a team that includes rangeland scientists, ecologists, life cycle assessment specialists, government and non-government organizations, other graduate students and postdocs at the University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada. The overall goal of the project is to assess the impacts (positive and negative) of beef production on biodiversity, and integrate that knowledge into life-cycle analyses of the beef industry. This project builds on existing data sets but will also collect new data. The role of the MSc student will be to assess rangeland health and relate it to biodiversity. The development of new research questions with supervisors will be encouraged and supported. A stipend (minimum $21k/year) is available for two years. The project is funded by the Alberta Livestock and Meat Agency, Ltd. Candidates should be highly motivated, enthusiastic and have a minimum of a BSc in biology, ecology, rangeland science, botany, environmental science, or related field. Study sites are on privately held land, thus the ability to communicate effectively in English with a diverse group of people is essential. Strong plant identification skills are highly desirable. Extensive field work throughout the province will be required during the summer under sometimes adverse conditions (i.e. weather, bugs) and long field days and a flexible schedule will be required. A valid driver's license and clean driving record are mandatory. Candidates must meet the university's entrance requirements<http://www.afns.ualberta.ca/Graduate/MasterofScienceThesisbased.aspx>. The position can begin immediately but no later than May 2015. Interested individuals should send questions or a cover letter with research interests, a resume describing relevant education, work experience and the names of references to: Dr. Cameron Carlyle cameron.carlyle at ualberta.ca<mailto:cameron.carlyle at ualberta.ca>, (780) 492-2546[X] or Dr. Edward Bork, edward.bork at ualberta.ca<mailto:edward.bork at ualberta.ca>, (780) 492-3843[X].



University of North Dakota: The Earth System Science & Policy Department<http://essp.und.edu/> (MS and PhD) is accepting applications for its graduate program. Students can apply for one of three degrees: 1. Masters of Environmental Management- an applied degree for students interested in a potential career path in natural resources management, non-profit organizations, local government, environmental impact assessment, etc. An internship is required to complete the degree. 2. Masters of Earth System Science & Policy- a traditional thesis research driven degree for students interested in advanced academic training and career options beyond. 3. PhD in Earth System Science & Policy- a traditional dissertation research driven degree for students interested in advanced academic training and career options beyond. All three ESSP degree options provide students with skills training in Geographic Information Systems (GIS), public speaking, interdisciplinary team building and problem solving, as well as theory and practice in addressing sustainability issues. Tuition waivers are available on a competitive basis; research assistantships are available periodically, dependent on available funding. For more information about ESSP please visit our website or email the graduate director. For questions about specific research opportunities, please email faculty directly; their contacts can be found on the ESSP website. Graduate Director- Xiaodong Zhang (zhang at aero.und.edu<mailto:zhang at aero.und.edu>). To apply directly, visit UND My Gradspace<http://graduateschool.und.edu/my-gradspace.cfm>.
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