Research Specialist II (Lab)

Overview

Prof. Simon Levin performs research on complex adaptive systems and the coupling of ecological and socioeconomic systems. As part of this program, he seeks to recruit an assistant, especially to help with computer simulations.

The research assistant will help develop a spatially explicit agent-based model to investigate how heterogeneous collections of farmers respond to environmental policy incentives and how these decentralized decisions shape long-run ecological and economic outcomes in agricultural landscapes. Preliminary work illustrates how coupling ecological feedback with heterogeneous behavioral responses can generate non-linear land-use dynamics and policy outcomes that cannot be captured by representative-agent optimization approaches. The model combines spatial heterogeneity in land quality, heterogeneous farm sizes, endogenous environmental feedbacks, and alternative farmer objective functions to examine the interaction between land-use decisions and environmental dynamics.

The work will include primarily model development and exploration, and the preparation of a manuscript.

This position is suitable for someone with knowledge of theoretical ecology methods and the ability to perform computational simulation, analysis and model testing.

Responsibilities

• Aid in model development (34%)
• Perform agent-based and other simulations (33%)
• Aid in Manuscript development (33%)

Qualifications

Essential Qualifications:

• This position requires a bachelor's degree in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
• Strong quantitative and programming background (Python, QGIS)
• A willingness to learn GIS software and other programs or tools necessary for the project
• Strong orientation toward teamwork and collaborative research

Preferred Qualifications:

• Background in high-performance computing (C, C++, or a comparable language) a plus.
• Excellent writing and verbal presentation skills also highly desired