Position Description

Postdoctoral Associate

bat abundance using mobile acoustics

Department of Natural Resources and the environment

Cornell University

Ithaca, New York

The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell University embraces diversity and seeks candidates who will contribute to a climate that supports students, faculty, and staff of all identities and backgrounds. We strongly encourage individuals from underrepresented and/or marginalized identities to apply.

The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) is a pioneer of purpose-driven science and home to Cornell University’s second largest population of students, faculty and staff. We work across disciplines to tackle the challenges of our time through world-renowned research, education and outreach. The questions we probe and the answers we seek focus on three overlapping concerns: natural and human systems; food, energy and environmental resources; and social, physical and economic well-being.  CALS is fundamentally invested in improving the lives of people, their environments and their communities both in New York state and around the world.

Position BACKGROUND:   

The Fuller Spatial Ecology and Decision Science Lab https://blogs.cornell.edu/fullerlab/ at the New York Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit at Cornell University is seeking candidates for a postdoctoral associate position for a bat population monitoring project using mobile acoustic survey data. The project is in support of the North American Bat Monitoring Program (NABat), collaborating with partners from the U.S. Geological Survey and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The project builds on a strong foundation of mobile acoustic work conducted by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC), and other state agency partners, and will involve collection and analysis of mobile acoustic survey data from monitoring partners in the northeastern United States. The candidate will help meet partner needs by producing bat species status and trend reports, data visualizations, and data dashboards that readily communicate analytical results to a broad audience.

Duties:                                                                                                                                                                     

The candidate will work with state, federal, and non-governmental organizations in the northeast (NY, VT, NH, ME, MA, CT, RI, PA and NJ, DE, D, VA, WV) to promote engagement in the North American Bat Monitoring Program and cultivate collaboration on a regional analysis of mobile acoustic data. The candidate will be a participant in the Northeast Bat Working Group, NABat Community of Practice, NABat Mobile Transect Technical Working Group, and the NABat Analytical Working Group. The candidate will be expected to develop manuscripts for submission in peer-reviewed journals and communicate research to project PIs and partners.

The candidate will work with Dr. Angela Fuller, U.S. Geological Survey, NY Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, at Cornell University (Ithaca, New York). The postdoc will work closely with the NABat program, USGS Fort Collins Science Center (Dr. Brian Reichert and Bethany Straw), the National white-nose syndrome coordinators with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Drs. Jeremy Coleman and Jonathan Reichard), Carl Herzog (NYSDEC, retired), and NABat contributing data partners. The postdoctoral associate will be housed in the Department of Natural Resources and the Environment, Cornell University. The position is full-time at 100% effort. The position will require frequent travel, including to the Fort Collins Science Center, Colorado as well as states in the eastern US; Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Vermont etc., with some likely updates to the locations based on timeframe and research. Travel time is not expected to be over a week duration.

Specific duties include: 1) Simulate mobile acoustic data to evaluate statistical power to detect trends in relative abundance through time (25%), 2) Collect acoustic data files and metadata from partners and evaluate methods used to classify acoustic data and provide guidance on sampling design (25%), 3) Develop standard operating procedures/protocols informed by data collection and analysis (10%), 4) Estimate abundance and trends of bats in the northeastern United States (40%).

Minimum Requirements:                                                                                                                                  

1.              Ph.D. in ecology, wildlife biology, conservation biology, natural resources, statistics, or a related quantitative field. 

2.              Strong mathematical and programming skills, experience in statistical estimation and simulation modeling and use of R.

3.              Experience with analysis of acoustic monitoring data.

4.              Demonstrated desire and proven ability to publish in peer-reviewed journals.

5.              Excellent writing and personal communication skills, including with external partners.

6.              Experience in partnerships/working with stakeholder groups.

7.              Proven record of leadership with the ability to work independently and under limited supervision as well as collaboratively.  

Recommended qualifications:                                                                                                             Competitive candidates will also have one or more of the following qualifications: Previous experience with bat population ecology, knowledge of bat acoustic monitoring methods, population modeling, spatial analysis, machine learning, N-mixture models, Bayesian hierarchical models, big data skills, R Shiny App, supervisory experience.

Supervision Exercised

The candidate will help supervise a full-time data manager who will be hired for this project. There will be opportunities to mentor and collaborate with graduate students in the lab.

To apply:

Please apply via Academic Jobs Online https://academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/26071

Qualified candidates should submit a short cover letter, curriculum vitae, contact information for three references, and a statement of contribution to diversity, equity and inclusion via the website. 

Applications will be reviewed as received, continuing until a suitable applicant is identified.

Salary: CALS hiring range for this title is $56,484 to $56,813.

One year initial appointment with the possibility of yearly extensions not to exceed 5 years.

Anticipated start date: Fall, 2023