Postdoctoral Scholar with Wildfire Resilience Initiative in Dept of Geography

POSITION OVERVIEW

Position title: Postdoctoral Scholar ( in the Climate Hazards Center)

Salary range: The posted UC system-wide salary scales set the minimum pay based on prior months of postdoc service (both domestic and international) before the start of appointment. See Table 23 and 23N (Hourly) for experience level minimums. A reasonable estimated full-time rate for this position at 100% time is $60,000- $71,952. Salaries that are higher than the published system-wide salary at the designated experience level minimum, are offered when necessary to meet competitive conditions.

Percent time: 100%

Anticipated start: Summer 2023 or later

Position duration: 2 years, with potential to renew for a 3rd year depending on performance.

APPLICATION WINDOW

Open date: June 26, 2023

Next review date: Monday, Jul 24, 2023 at 11:59pm (Pacific Time)
Apply by this date to ensure full consideration by the committee.

Final date: Thursday, Nov 30, 2023 at 11:59pm (Pacific Time)
Applications will continue to be accepted until this date, but those received after the review date will only be considered if the position has not yet been filled.

POSITION DESCRIPTION

The Department of Geography, at the University of
California, Santa Barbara seeks a qualified candidate for a post-doctoral research position with a primary focus on wildfire fuels, fire behavior and management within the Wildland Urban Interface (WUI). Qualified applicants must have a strong background in wildfire related research, preferably with training in remote sensing, geographic information science, spatial statistical modeling, and fire ecology. The qualified candidate will work with a multidisciplinary team that is integrating remote sensing, GIS, laboratory studies of plant flammability properties, climate patterns, fire weather and the social, economic and demographic aspects of risk to improve community resilience in the presence of wildfire. The qualified candidate will concentrate on improved measures of wildfire fuels, and hazard in the WUI, but is also expected to contribute to integration of broader team efforts. The candidate will work closely with UCSB PIs Dr. Dar Roberts and Dr. Max Moritz, working with spaceborne, airborne and drone-based imagery, plant water balance metrics, and other relevant geospatial data layers, primarily focusing on Santa Barbara County. The candidate is expected to coordinate research activities, develop refereed publications, engage in local and state outreach activities, and present
research results at professional conferences.

The University is especially interested in candidates who can contribute to the diversity and excellence of the academic community through research, teaching, and service as appropriate to the position.

Department: https://www.geog.ucsb.edu/

QUALIFICATIONS

Basic qualifications (required at time of application)

Applicants must have completed all requirements for a PhD Degree in Geography/Remote Sensing, GIScience, Biogeography, Plant Ecology, Wildfire Science or a related discipline except the dissertation at the time of application.

Additional qualifications (required at time of start)

PhD awarded by the time of appointment.

Preferred qualifications

• Strong expertise in handling, processing and visualizing large spatial vector and gridded datasets (e.g. remotely sensed and climate/ecohydrologic forecasts) Strong background in applied statistical modeling and machine learning
• Experience with processing and analyzing climate and/or plant water balance forecasts is strongly preferred.
• Ability to implement predictive models (including but not limited to machine learning algorithms) based on gridded datasets (e.g. remotely sensed or climate/ecohydrologic forecasts, time series, and/or panel datasets).
• Fluency in programming languages such as R, Python or IDL. Expertise in the use of standard image processing software such as ENVI, QGIS of Google Earth Engine
• Demonstrated ability to make reproducible code for cleaning, integrating, and modeling spatial/temporal data from multiple sources, spatial scales, and temporal frequencies.
• Interest and experience in applied sciences
• Proven record of independently leading research projects, conducting reproducible research, publishing journal articles and presenting at international and national conferences.

APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS

Document requirements

• Curriculum Vitae - Your most recently updated C.V.

• Cover Letter

Reference requirements

• 3 required (contact information only)

References will be contacted for final candidate(s) by email and/or phone, requesting one (or more) of the following: discussion over email or phone, letter of recommendation.

Apply link: https://recruit.ap.ucsb.edu/JPF02518

Help contact: sarahdahl@ucsb.edu

CAMPUS INFORMATION

The University of California is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

As a condition of employment, you will be required to comply with the University of California Policy on Vaccination Programs – With Updated Interim Amendments. All Covered Individuals under the policy must provide proof of receiving the COVID-19 Vaccine Primary Series or, if applicable, submit a request for Exception (based on Medical Exemption, Disability, Religious Objection, and/or Deferral based on pregnancy or recent COVID-19 diagnosis and/or treatment) no later than the applicable deadline. All Covered Individuals must also provide proof of receiving the most recent CDC-recommended COVID-19 booster or properly decline such booster no later than the applicable deadline. New University of California employees should refer to Exhibit 2, Section II.C. of the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) Vaccination Program Attachment for applicable deadlines. All Covered Individuals must also provide proof of being Up-To-Date on seasonal influenza vaccination or properly decline such vaccination no later than the applicable deadline. Please refer to the Seasonal Influenza Vaccination Program Attachment. (Capitalized terms in this paragraph are defined in the policy.) Federal, state, or local public health directives may impose additional requirements.

JOB LOCATION

Santa Barbara, CA