Research Scientist- Wildlife Biology, USDA Forest Service
Aiken, South Carolina
Salary: $61,218-$73,375/yr
Overview:
The Center for Forested Watershed Research of the Southern Research Station (SRS-4353) plans to fill a full-time, term post-doc Research Wildlife Biologist position. The position will be filled at either the GS-11 ($61,218/yr) or GS-12 ($73,375/yr) level, plus standard Federal benefits. The duty station is located at the Savannah River Site, New Ellenton, SC. The mission of the Center is to conduct basic and applied research on the ecological functions and management of forested watersheds. The mission of the Forest Service, Savannah River Site and to facilitate the National Environmental Research Park functions.
Duties:
The scientist conducts research aimed at enhancing restoration and conservation of the wildlife species characteristic of pre-settlement Coastal Plain ecosystems within the context of modern multiple use landscapes. The scientist's research is not limited to a single taxa but primary focus is on birds and mammals. The sicentist disseminates research information through publications in both peer-reviewed and general literature and through invited and offered presentations to academic, professional, and lay audiences.
The scientist will work as a member of a team studying invasive wild pig ecology and approaches for control. Objectives of the team include assessing impacts of pics on native wildlife, gaining a better inderstanding of aspects of wild pig ecology that would inform control efforts, development of improved population estimation methods, determining population parameters to improve predictive population models, and evaluation and improvement of control strategies. The scientist will use camera trap data to model spatial abundance of wild pigs across the SRS landscape and will use GPS location data from satellite telemetry to estimate utilization distributions of individual deer. The scientist will then model the potential effect of pigs on space use by deer using these data. The scientist will assess the effect of pigs on resource availability for native wildlife by evaluating acorn abundance in sites occurring along a gradient of pig density.
The scientist is a co-leader of a team investigating reslationships between population fitness of the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker (RCW) and its foraging habitat, with the objective of impoving management efficiency in achieving population recovery. The scientist will use long-term population monitoring data coupled with LiDAR data on vegetation structure and field data on RCW foraging to re-define thresholds in habitat variables that describe optimal foraging habitat to maximize productivity. In addition, the scientist will plan and implement an experiment incorporating these new thresholds to assess the combined effect of foraging habitat quality and group density on occupancy success of recruitment clusters.
The scientist assembles, interprets, and disseminates data and information to provide basic direction and priorities for managing wildlife in conjunction with other land management activities. The scientist assembles technical information, performs analyses, prepares technical reports, participates in writing peer-reviewed journal papers, and participates in professional conferences.
The scientist will interact with US Forest Service biologists at the Savannah River Site and biologists in agencies such as the US Geological Survey and the US Fish and Wildlife Service, as well as colleagues from the University of Georgia, Clemson University, North Carolina State University, the University of South Carolina - Aiken, and others.
Requirements:
The position requires: (1) a Ph.D. in wildlife biology, ecology, zoology, or related field; and (2) excellent oral and written communication skills. The position is a full-time 2-year term post-doc. Applicants must be a US citizen. The anticipated starting date is June 1, 2019. The position is within the Forest Watershed Sciences Unit (SRS-4353) of the Southern Research Station.
How to be considered:
The purpose of this outreach is to determine potential applicants who may be interested in the position. If you are interested, please go to https://fsoutreach.gdcii.com?id=82AAEBCC84DE44469E9322412069B29B and click "respond" to complete the online form by February 28, 2019. For more information, contact Dr. John C. Kilgo at jkilgo@fs.fed.us or (803)725-0561.