Postdoctoral Scientist at the Rangeland-Wildlife Extension Lab at Utah State University
Translocations from Wyoming to North Dakota
Summary:
The Rangeland-Wildlife Extension Lab at Utah State University (https://qcnr.usu.edu/wild/people/faculty/dahlgren_david) is seeking a postdoctoral scientist to continue and lead 2-3 year (2 years guaranteed) more years of translocation-augmentation and source population monitoring of greater sage-grouse populations in Wyoming and North Dakota. This position will supervise and coordinate field activities and complete analyses such as survival, population dynamics, habitat selection, and movement of translocated and source population. The position requires strong quantitative, research design, field project implementation, supervision, and writing and communication experience and skills. A demonstrated track record of conducting analyses and following through to peer-reviewed publication is required. Expected products include scientific peer-reviewed, Extension, and project progress reports and publications. To complete this project USU has working partnerships and collaborations with North Dakota Game and Fish, Wyoming Game and Fish, U. S. Geological Survey, and others. The successful candidate will be expected to maintain partner relationships through regular communication (e.g., one-on-one in-person and phone calls, group meetings, conference calls, emails, social media, etc.) as well as leading and participating in collaborative efforts for field operations, analyses, and publication development. This position requires a well-rounded (i.e., field, analytical, inter-personal, coordination, etc. skills) wildlife professional and is not necessarily suited for someone who primarily desires to focus on singular facets of the project, such as just analyses or primarily field operations.
Project Description:
This position will help finalize a project that began in 2017. Sage-Grouse have been radio-marked and translocated during the 2017 and 2018 field seasons. The project has received approval to continue translocations from Wyoming to North Dakota for the 2019 field season, with the potential for continuation during the 2020 field season. Funding for writing and analysis will be available for an additional 10 months following the final field season. Monitoring has and will ocntinue to occur for radio-marked grouse in the source population and translocated birds. Males will be translocated in the spring during the lekking season. Brooding females and their chicks will be translocated together in late May and June. All translocated grouse, including chicks, and monitored individuals in the source population will be radio-marked (GPS-ARGOS and VHF). This position will supervise a crew of 4 or more field technicians during the field season. This project will occur in remote locations with potential for adverse and severe weather conditions. Field operations will require long hours and at times nocturnal activities.
Application Process:
The position will be filled as soon as possible to get prepared for the 2019 field season. Applications will be reviewed upon receipt and continue until a suitable candidate is found. Preference will be given to applications received before the end of February 2019. Earlier the better!
Please send the following to dave.dahlgren@usu.edu:
- Cover Letter outlining professional interests and academic background
- Curriculum Vitae
- Names and contact information (phone and email) of three references
Applicants should email the documents above to Dr. Dave Dahlgren. The subject line of the email shoud read "Translocation Postdoc Application - [your surname]". The attachment should be ONE PDF file with all three documents combined and titled [your surname].pdf
Utah State University is an equal-opportunity/affirmative action employer. We promote diversity and encourage all qualified (see below) individuals to apply.
Any questions should be directed to Dr. Dave Dahlgren (dave.dahlgren@usu.edu)
Qualifications:
- PhD completed in recent years in Wildlife, Ecology, or similar Natural Resource field
- Demonstrated skills of unsupervised quantitative assessment of wildlife populations
- Demonstrated ability to see manuscripts through to peer-reviewed publication
- Demonstrated skills and ability to perform and lead others in field-based research opertations in remote areas with little to no supervision
Preferences:
- Experience trapping, handling, and radio-marking grouse with GPS and VHF radios, especially sage-grouse
- Experience with telemetry and training others in telemetry
- Experience managing large databases, such as GPS data
- Experience in translocating wildlife and performing soft releases
- Experience handling young/delicate wildlife, especially birds
- Experience working in sagebrush ecosystems
- Experience/training with population modeling (Bayesian), RSF, survival, GIS/spatial and/or movement analyses
- Experience leading and coordinating large field-based projects with many moving parts and collaborators
