The Nature Conservancy invites applications for a Postdoctoral position based in Narragansett, Rhode Island as part of the Conservancy's North America Oceans and Coasts team. This person will lead a project which aims to inform sustainable fisheries management by creating spatially-explicit, dynamic models of marine habitats that can improve stock assessments and project stocks into the future for thirty commercially important species on the Northeast Shelf of the United States. The work will expand the dimensions of habitat included in the suitability models by integrating substrate, and seabed features along with the dynamic properties of the water column that change on daily to decadal time scales. The project will develop the thermal-benthic habitat suitability index for thirty species and then project the suitable habitat into the future with downscaled earth system models. The project will determine the mechanistic thermal-benthic habitat response curve for each species, and map out the spatial extent of the suitable habitat for different years and seasons with regional ocean models.
This is a one year position with possibility for extension to two years based on performance and funding.
Selected candidate will be responsible for developing thermal-substrate niche models for commercial fish species in the northeast and mapping that space with regional ocean models.
RESPONSIBILITIES AND SCOPE
- Support program objectives by working in a complex matrix organization environment.
- Lead all phases of the project described above.
- Work with partners, including state and federal agencies, to obtain data, produce results and disseminate outputs.
- Develop statistical habitat occupancy models.
- Provide a variety of information to staff and others, contributing to conservation projects and ensuring workflow.
MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS
- Strong quantitative skills
- Experience manipulating, analyzing and interpreting statistical and environmental data.
- Record of peer reviewed publications in scientific journals related to fishery science or ecology.
- Experience fundraising and/or writing grants and research proposals.
- Experience leading or participating on cross functional teams.
- Experience managing complex projects including the financial aspect and coordinating the work of peers and partners.
- Experience working and communicating with a wide range of people.
DESIRED QUALIFICATIONS
- PhD
- Extremely strong programming skills in R or other computer languages
- Ability to work with large data sets
- Knowledge of niche dynamics
- Strong knowledge of common software applications.
- Strong written and oral communication skills
- Attention to detail.