INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH ECOLOGIST/RESEARCH METEOROLOGIST, GS-0408/1340-12/13 (PERMANENT)
Respond By: 4/05/2023
This is a Pre-Announcement Notice. The Northern Research Station (NRS) plans to advertise the following position soon. Please circulate this outreach notice to as many potential candidates as possible; we are seeking a diverse pool of qualified applicants, and therefore especially encourage applications by groups under-represented in science and in the US Forest Service. The online outreach notice can be found at this link. Information on the vacancy announcement will be posted at this link at a later date, as well as being sent to all who respond to this pre-announcement notice. If you would like to be notified of the vacancy please respond to the online outreach link above, or send the optional form at the end of this document to Erik Lilleskov, erik.a.lilleskov@usda.gov
ABOUT THIS POSITION
This position is with the USDA Forest Service, NRS, Climate, Fire and Carbon Cycle Sciences Research Work Unit (NRS-06) and will be located at Forestry Sciences Laboratory in Durham, NH. As a research position, it has the potential for promotion to GS-15 or ST level via evaluation under the Research Grade Evaluation Guide.
The scientist will improve understanding of forest greenhouse gas, water, and energy exchange at multiple scales in time and space to better inform decisions that are made concerning forest management, carbon sequestration, natural disturbance, and the climate system. The major aim of this work is to understand how a changing climate impacts the functioning, carbon storage, and climate forcing (feedbacks to climate change) of forest and wetland ecosystems. Forest ecosystems generally remove CO2 from the atmosphere and may be more actively managed to serve as nature-based climate solutions. The scientist will utilize flux tower data and methods to better understand how ecosystems can be managed to increase the uptake and persistence of stored carbon and will address other questions relating to forest climate feedbacks. This involves developing and testing new ways of making and interpreting measurements of ecosystem gas exchange and bringing field data (ecosystem flux using diverse methods such as eddy covariance and remote sensing, intensive biometric data such as tree ring increment, extensive data such as inventories) and models together. Collaboration with work unit scientists and other partners in the production, use, and evaluation of models of surface-atmosphere exchange and the use of innovative data assimilation and machine learning techniques are central to this problem area. Of particular importance is the development of models addressing biogeochemical and biophysical climate feedbacks between natural ecosystems (primarily forests and wetlands) and the climate system that can be used to inform ecosystem management.
This research is grounded in key national networks of intensive monitoring sites, including those of AmeriFlux and the Forest Service Experimental Forest Network and related long-term research sites. The scientist would have lead responsibility for the AmeriFlux core eddy covariance site at Howland Research Forest which has been run by the US Forest Service for over 25 years. The scientist would also be expected to lead the integration of eddy flux work at this site with that at multiple other forest and peatland locations managed by NRS scientists (e.g., Silas Little Experimental Forest, Marcell Experimental Forest, peatland flux towers in tropical Andes and Amazon), and lead an eddy covariance working group that can inform larger scale questions in the region and globally.
Research team. The scientist is a member of the Northern Research Station (NRS) Research Work Unit NRS-06, Climate, Fire, and Carbon Cycle Sciences. The unit’s mission is to develop and provide the basic science, quantitative methods, and technology needed to make decisions about forest ecosystems and the atmosphere related to climate change, fire, and carbon. These three broad topic areas are integrated through crosscutting problems that address quantitative methods for ecosystem science and processes of climate variability and change. The following are examples of the types of problems addressed by this team relevant to the current position: 1) understand how climate variability, management, and disturbance affect forest carbon, water, and energy exchange, 2) improve forest carbon management and increase understanding of belowground ecosystem processes, and 3) understand how changes in forests and forest management affect the climate system.
ABOUT THE NORTHERN RESEARCH STATION AND NRS-06
The Northern Research Station serves a 20-state region composed of the Northeast and Midwest. The Station improves people’s lives and sustains natural resources through research and development. The Northern Research Station has more than 400 employees, including 134 scientists, at 24 field locations and 22 Experimental Forests. More information on the Northern Research Station is on our website: https://www.nrs.fs.usda.gov
The Climate, Fire, and Carbon Cycle Sciences group (NRS-06) develops a sound scientific basis and appropriate tools for making local to international resource management, human health/safety, and policy decisions in response to climate change, fire, air pollution, and other threats to people, forests, and watersheds. By connecting climate change and fire research to societal values, we foster innovative management solutions to sustain forests and forest-based values, and improve our quality of life.
TO APPLY FOR THIS POSITION:
The purpose of this Outreach Notice is to identify the potential applicant pool for this position. Responses received from this outreach notice will be used to assess the potential application pool and design a formal recruitment to be posted at a later date. We will automatically send the position announcement when it opens to those who respond to this Outreach Notice.
• To apply, first respond to this Outreach Notice to be put on a list for the vacancy announcement, either online, or by sending the Interest form below to Erik Lilleskov, erik.a.lilleskov@usda.gov
• Once the vacancy announcement has been shared, go to USAJOBS https://www.usajobs.gov/
o You must set up or have an existing USAJOBS profile.
o Search/locate the announcement number.
o Select position(s) and location(s) you are interested in and begin the application process.
o You must complete and submit your application by the closing date specified on the announcement.