SageSTEP Postdoctoral Scholar: Climate, Fire, and Vegetation Interactions in Sagebrush-Dominated Shrublands

The Ellsworth Lab at Oregon State University is recruiting for a Postdoctoral Fellow to ask research questions about ecosystem change following fire and fuel treatments in sagebrush ecosystems. The Fellow will work with an interdisciplinary team of scientists and students at Oregon State University and with the larger SageSTEP project (www.sagestep.org). This position is located at Oregon State University in Corvallis, Oregon. Funding is currently available for two years. 

The work will include: 

• Identify where vegetation transitions in sagebrush steppe are occurring using field data, remotely-sensed data, and long-term public data sets.
• Determine the role of climate, wildfire, and management in those transitions using landscape change models such as ST-Sim.
• Predict areas most at risk of transitions under current and projected climates.
• Communicate findings to scientific, manager, and public audiences.

Required Qualifications 

• Ph.D. within the last 5 years in fire ecology, landscape ecology, rangeland ecology or a related field
• Understanding of fire ecology in the western US.
• Data analysis and statistical modeling, preferably in R.
• Data management and analysis of large datasets.
• Interest in working on applied research topics of relevance to land managers.
• Excellent interpersonal skills; strong written and verbal communication skills.

Preferred qualifications 

• Experience working in sagebrush and/or pinyon-juniper ecosystems.
• Experience with Google Earth Engine or other platform for analyzing satellite data
• Experience with landscape modeling, e.g. ST-Sim, Landis II).
• Demonstrated publication record.

Salary: OSU Postdoctoral Scholar salary range $61,008-74,088.  For more information: https://gradschool.oregonstate.edu/postdocs/stipends-and-benefits

Desired Start Date: Flexible; ideally Summer 2024.