We seek a highly motivated individual to join an inter-disciplinary research group investigating socio-ecological outcomes of silvopasture implementation. This two-year postdoctoral position is based at the Universidad Nacional de Río Negro (UNRN) and is funded by the Science, Nature, and People Partnership (SNAPP). The postdoctoral researcher will lead synthesis research on real-world social-ecological impacts of silvopasture adoption and spatial modeling of trade-off, multifunctionality analyses. The ideal candidate will have demonstrated expertise in data management, statistical analysis, and spatial modeling of complex biodiversity, ecosystem services, and social-political datasets. This position will integrate large and diverse datasets to analyze and interpret complex interactions leading to non-linear dynamics across heterogenous agroecosystems. They will also work with SNAPP partners to translate the science for policy, farm planning tools, and environmental certification schemes promoting sustainable cattle ranching in Colombia and Latin America.

The postdoctoral researcher will be a dedicated SNAPP researcher and play a leading role in coordinating the SNAPP working group and data coordination, analysis, and publication and deliverables. Through participation in this project, the postdoc will have opportunities to gain expertise in agriculture, ecology, economics, sociology, public policy, conservation, and spatial modeling and develop specialized knowledge on transformative regenerative agriculture with real-world application. There will also be opportunities to integrate their work with other fields in this rich, transdisciplinary research environment; and broad, practical leadership training to promote a transnational ecology workforce.

The postdoctoral researcher will be based at the Universidad Nacional de Río Negro. UNRN-IRAD, along with the SNAPP team, will provide postdoc mentoring, in-depth research training and professional development opportunities. Under this arrangement, the postdoc will also be exposed to key research faculty engaged and interested in the core research questions and analysis of the SNAPP team, as well as their policy, nonprofit and practitioner partners.

REQUIREMENTS

Skills/ Qualifications

The minimum requirements for candidates are:

• PhD diploma in Natural Sciences, Ecology, Statistics or related field of science.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills in both Spanish and English.
• Experience conducting research to address conservation or environmental management problems.

Desired qualifications for candidates are:

• Demonstrated ability to independently initiate, lead, and complete research projects.
• Demonstrated experience in spatial modeling and statistical analysis of complex datasets.
• Proficiency in working with in open-source analytical tools (e.g., R, Python) to manipulate and analyze both spatial and tabular data and to conduct spatial and statistical analysis.
• Experience using GIS, proprietary (e.g., ArcGIS, Google Earth Engine) and open-source (e.g., QGIS, Python, R, Julia, PostGIS, GRASS).
• Experience working with analysis of geospatial data and remotely sensed data (using software such as R, Google Earth Engine, Arc, ERDAS, ENVI).
• Working knowledge of species distribution modeling, including hierarchical Bayesian modeling approaches.
• Collaborative, detail-oriented person with the ability to stay organized and meet deadlines in a fast-paced and unstructured work environment.
• Ability to think and work creatively, and to proactively identify and solve analytical and methodological problems, using innovative or novel approaches when needed.

Start date: The position is available to start immediately and no later than January 2024.

Principal investigators: The postdoc will be supervised by Lucas Garibaldi, Professor at Universidad Nacional de Río Negro (UNRN), and co-mentored by team leader Christina Kennedy, director of spatial conservation science at The Nature Conservancy.