Vacancy: Postdoctoral Research Associate positions at Princeton University

Postdoctoral Research Associate positions available

Professor Stephen W. Pacala of the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and the Princeton Environmental Institute at Princeton University seeks two Postdoctoral Research Associate positions: one in vegetation and ecosystem dynamics and/or climate change and one in global vegetation modeling.

A postdoctoral research associate position to pursue modeling projects related to climate change, carbon cycling, and vegetation dynamics. The position is broadly defined and may address a wide range of questions related to vegetation dynamics, ecosystem ecology and climate change. Both empirical and theoretical approaches are welcome, and funding for field studies is available.  Requirements: PhD in related field. Candidates with strong mathematical, computational, and/or statistical skills are especially encouraged to apply.

A second postdoctoral research associate position focuses on developing a next-generation global land model that can be coupled to the NOAA Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Lab (GFDL) Earth System Model. Principal collaborators include GFDL and the US Forest Service Northern Research Station. Diverse data sources, including forest inventories, eddy-flux towers, and plant-trait databases, will be assimilated to add physiological mechanisms to a new mathematically and computationally tractable forest dynamics model (Strigul et al. 2008, Ecological Monographs; Purves et al. 2008, PNAS) and to broaden the model to cover other biomes.  Initial efforts to calibrate the model will focus on northern Wisconsin and will contribute to a Forest Service assessment of forest carbon mitigation potential in this region.  The Wisconsin prototype will be integrated with the GFDL modeling framework to facilitate extensions to the global scale. Requirements:  PhD in related field. Candidates with strong mathematical, computational, and/or statistical skills are especially encouraged to apply.  Desired qualifications are field and modeling experience in forest dynamics, familiarity with Bayesian or likelihood estimation, one or more low-level programming languages (GFDL uses Fortran 90), and Unix shell scripts.

Both positions are one-year initial appointments with the possibility of renewal. Start date is flexible. Apply online at http://jobs.princeton.edu  under Requisition #1000328.  Include curriculum vitae, names of three references, and one-page statement of research interests.  For more information, email Jeremy Lichstein (jwl@princeton.edu) with subject “Princeton post-doc.”

Princeton University is an equal opportunity employer and complies with applicable EEO and affirmative action regulations.  For information about applying to Princeton and voluntarily
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