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2-Year Postdoctoral Fellowship: Recreational Ecology in the Yellowstone to Yukon (Y2Y) Region

Employer
Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative
Location
Based in either Y2Y head office in Canmore, Alberta (preferred) or UNBC campus in Prince George, BC
Closing date
Mar 1, 2019

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Sector
Academic / Research, Nonprofit
Field
Conservation science
Discipline
Ecology, GIS, Modeling
Job Level
Post doctoral fellow
Salary Type
Salary
Employment Type
Contract

2-Year Postdoctoral Fellowship: Recreational Ecology in the Yellowstone to Yukon (Y2Y) Region

Summary: The Y2Y vision is an interconnected system of wild lands and waters stretching from Yellowstone to Yukon, harmonizing the needs of people with those of nature. As well as providing wildlife habitat and holding important ecological values, outdoor spaces are places where people recreate. Identifying how and where people and wildlife co-occur in landscapes is an important part of “large landscape conservation”. This 2-year applied research project will focus on identifying and mapping where people recreate in the Y2Y region, and compiling and modeling the ecological impacts of different types and intensities of use. The results will be used to inform and manage access.

Project description:  The University of Northern British Columbia (Dr. Pamela Wright, UNBC) and the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative (Dr. Aerin Jacob, Y2Y) seek one postdoctoral fellow to work on this two-year funded project. The appointee will lead a team of researchers, conservationists, and partners in the US and Canada to:

  1. develop a spatially explicit database of motorized/non-motorized trails used for nature-based recreation in the Y2Y region, acquired via partnerships, remotely sensed data, and digitization;
  2. working from primary and grey literature, and potentially with subject matter experts, review recreation ecology impacts on selected wildlife species and ecosystem components of conservation concern; and,
  3. develop functional models of disturbance in the Y2Y region (e.g., where structural habitat exists but recreation-related disturbance affects specific species or ecosystem components, and where managing recreation differently could advance conservation priorities).

This position is ideal for a collaborative self-starter committed to applied research and actionable science, and with outstanding interpersonal and communication skills. It is anticipated that the appointee will work closely with Y2Y and UNBC researchers, staff, and partners to learn about transboundary conservation and research in non-profit and academic sectors. This may include grant writing and reporting, supervising students and/or technicians, and related technical and non-technical outreach and professional development.

Qualifications: Ph.D. in conservation-related natural sciences with strong geospatial skills. An interest and background in recreation or road ecology is an asset, as are experience conducting and communicating landscape-level, collaborative research that informs management and conservation.

Essential skills and experience include:

  • Proficient in ESRI ArcGIS and R; experience creating and managing databases, multivariate and/or spatial statistics, classifying and applying ecological risk analysis to large remotely sensed/geospatial data sets, LiDAR or satellite imagery, imagery interpretation and analysis, automating or scripting solutions (e.g., Python)
  • Publication record (e.g., journal articles, book chapters, funder/agency reports)
  • Collaborative approach (especially non-academic) and multi-tasking

Desired skills and experience include:

  • Leading large projects to completion, supervising undergraduate students or technicians
  • Literature reviews and meta-analyses
  • Grant writing and working with government, community, and/or non-profit partners
  • Science communication and outreach (including technical and non-technical audiences)

We welcome applications from individuals with relevant experience and skill sets outside conservation science, from people who identify as under-represented minorities, and international applications.

Setting: Based in either Y2Y head office in Canmore, Alberta (preferred) or UNBC campus in Prince George, British Columbia (significant time spent at the other location) and travel within the Y2Y region.

Start date: The appointee will preferably start on or before June 1, 2019.

Salary: $45,000-50,000 CAD per year for two years commensurate with qualifications and experience, second year of funding contingent upon successful progress in year 1.

To apply: Applications must include a cover letter (addressing your interest and experience in the topic, how you meet essential and desired qualifications, and relationship to career goals), CV, 1-3 writing samples of published material, and contact information for three references. Documents/materials must be submitted in a single PDF file (“Y2YPostdoc-FirstNameLastName.pdf”) with the position title as the subject header to pamela.wright@unbc.ca.

Closing date: Deadline March 1, 2019 with interviews anticipated in spring 2019.

Web posting: www.y2y.net/RecEcolPostdoc

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