"Postdoctoral Research Associate I"

Postdoctoral Research Associate I

Company: The University of Arizona

Job Location: Tucson, 85724

Category: Environmental Science, Ecology, and Forestry

Type: Full-Time

Posting Number: req23750

Department: Sch of Nat Resource&Enviro-Res

Location: Main Campus

Address: Tucson, AZ USA

Position Highlights

The School of Natural Resources & the Environment seeks applications for a Postdoctoral Research Associate to join an on-going NASA Earth Surface Mineral Dust Source Investigation (EMIT) project to help us address this critical knowledge gap by integrating hyperspectral observations from the EMIT platform and other complementary satellite observation records towards the mapping biocrust community composition and functional diversity across global drylands. Biological soil crusts (hereafter, biocrusts) are photosynthetic soil communities of cyanobacteria, mosses, and/or lichens that cover vast expanses of the terrestrial surface and play critical roles in soil stabilization, fertility, water cycling, and carbon exchange with the atmosphere. Biocrusts are found on all continents and rough global estimates of biocrust distribution based on suitability modeling and evidence of biocrust presence from the published literature suggest that these photosynthetic soil communities make up 12% of Earth's land surface. Despite their global extent and critical importance, biocrusts have yet to be mapped globally using satellite observations, and thus our quantitative understanding of biocrust community composition, coverage, function, and response to global change remains in its infancy compared to our understanding of vascular plants.

This position is a year-to-year contracted position, but depending on work performance and funding this position may last up to two years.

Outstanding UA benefits include health, dental, vision, and life insurance; paid vacation, sick leave, and holidays; UA/ASU/NAU tuition reduction for the employee and qualified family members; access to UA recreation and cultural activities; and more!

The University of Arizona has been recognized for our innovative work-life programs. For more information about working at the University of Arizona and relocations services, please click here.

Duties & Responsibilities

• Developing and participating in field campaigns.
• Leading analysis of multispectral and hyperspectral data at the field, drone, and satellite scale.
• Big data analysis including processing and analyzing EMIT hyperspectral datacubes over large spatial domains such as the Colorado Plateau and even global.
• Presenting results at national conferences.
• Leading the development of manuscripts with the aim of publishing at least one paper a year in a high impact journal.
• Mentoring graduate and undergraduate students working on the project.

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities:

• Previous research focus on biocrust community composition and their functional role within dryland ecosystems.

Minimum Qualifications

• PhD in ecosystem ecology or a related field.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with spatiotemporal analysis using R, Python, and/or comparable computer programming languages.
• Experience in high performance computing.
• Experiencing working with satellite data over large spatial extents, specifically satellite-based hyperspectral observations.
• Experience as a field ecologist and involvement in field campaigns.
• Experience in proximal remote sensing and/or with drones.
• Interest and/or a research background in dryland ecosystem ecology.

FLSA: Exempt

Full Time/Part Time: Full Time

Number of Hours Worked per Week: 40

Job FTE: 1.0

Work Calendar: Fiscal

Job Category: Research

Benefits Eligible: Yes - Full Benefits

Rate of Pay: NIH Salary Guidelines, Depends on Experience

Compensation Type: salary at 1.0 full-time equivalency (FTE)

Type of criminal background check required: Name-based criminal background check (non-security sensitive)

Number of Vacancies: 1

Contact Information for Candidates

William Smith wksmith@arizona.edu

Open Until Filled: Yes

Documents Needed to Apply: Curriculum Vitae (CV) and Cover Letter