USDA-FS Quantitative Landscape Ecology Research Fellowship
To submit your application, scroll to the bottom of this opportunity and click APPLY.
A complete application consists of:
- An application
- Transcript(s) – For this opportunity, an unofficial transcript or copy of the student academic records printed by the applicant or by academic advisors from internal institution systems may be submitted. Click here for detailed information about acceptable transcripts.
- A current resume/CV, including academic history, employment history, relevant experiences, and publication list
- Two educational or professional recommendations. At least one recommendation must be submitted in order for the mentor to view your application.
All documents must be in English or include an official English translation.
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*Applications will be reviewed on a rolling-basis.
USDA Forest Service Office/Lab and Location: A fellowship opportunity is available with the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service (FS) within the Pacific Northwest Research Station (PNWRS) located in Wenatchee, Washington.
At the heart of the USDA Forest Service's mission is their purpose. Everything they do is intended to help sustain forests and grasslands for present and future generations. Why? Because their stewardship work supports nature in sustaining life. This is the purpose that drives the agency’s mission and motivates their work across the agency. It’s been there from the agency’s very beginning, and it still drives them. To advance the mission and serve their purpose, the USDA Forest Service balances the short and long-term needs of people and nature by: working in collaboration with communities and our partners; providing access to resources and experiences that promote economic, ecological, and social vitality; connecting people to the land and one another; and delivering world-class science, technology and land management.
Research Project: The PNWRS Lab in Wenatchee, Washington has a six-decade history of collaborating with eastern WA National Forests to develop geospatial scripts and tools that characterize forest vegetation conditions and changes occurring over the 20th and 21st centuries and expected changes in conditions and disturbance processes over 21st century. Together the Forests and the Lab also build decision support tools that support a Forest-wide strategies to create healthy and wildfire adapted forests and a toolkit for evaluating current conditions and adapting them to wildfires and warming.
This project creates updates in a landscape evaluation toolkit, which include new models for listed and sensitive species. These models can inform managers during planning on how to improve forest health and reduce adverse consequences to sensitive species. Revisions also include updating values in the existing models that reflect new science and lessons learned over the last 15-years. The toolkit also includes evaluation tools that show current wildfire risk, overly dense forest conditions, and opportunities for transitioning forest conditions that are adapted to 21st century wildfires and drying environmental conditions through management.
Learning Objectives: The fellow will develop professionally while engaging in research-operational partnerships and learning about systems involving forest composition, structure, insect and disease vulnerability, and fuels and fire emissions. They will gain experience with modeling, coding, and database management in support of a complex workflow. The fellow will gain valuable experience in decision support science while improving existing tools. The fellow will collaborate with others at the USDA Forest Service, Okanagan-Wenatchee National Forest and will have the opportunity to improve professional collaboration and communication skills.
Mentor: The mentors for this opportunity are Brion Salter (robert.salter@usda.gov) and Dr. Paul Hessburg (paul.hessburg@usda.gov). If you have questions about the nature of the research, please contact the mentors.
Anticipated Appointment Start Date: 2025. Start date is flexible and will depend on a variety of factors.
Appointment Length: The appointment will initially be for one year but may be extended upon recommendation of USDA Forest Service and is contingent on the availability of funds.
Level of Participation: The appointment is full time.
Participant Stipend: The participant will receive a monthly stipend commensurate with educational level and experience. The anticipated stipend range is $60,000 - $75,000 annually.
Citizenship Requirements: This opportunity is available to U.S. citizens and Lawful Permanent Residents (LPR) only.
ORISE Information: This program, administered by ORAU through its contract with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to manage the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE), was established through an interagency agreement between DOE and USDA Forest Service. Participants do not become employees of USDA, USDA Forest Service, DOE or the program administrator, and there are no employment-related benefits. Proof of health insurance is required for participation in this program. Health insurance can be obtained through ORISE.
Questions: Please visit our Program Website. After reading, if you have additional questions about the application process please email ORISE.USFS.PNWRS@orau.org and include the reference code for this opportunity.
The qualified candidate should have received a master's degree in one of the relevant fields (forest ecology, landscape ecology, fire ecology, or related discipline). Degree must have been received within the past five years.
Preferred skills:
- Experience with ecological modeling, spatial analysis and statistics, ArcGIS Pro software, Python and R coding.
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