Remote

Position Title: Changing Landscapes Lab Lead Freshwater Scientist

Organization: Conservation Science Partners

Location: Remote

Organization Overview: Conservation Science Partners (CSP) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit collective established to meet the analytical and research needs of diverse stakeholders in conservation projects. They connect the best minds in conservation science to solve problems in a way that’s comprehensive, flexible, and service-oriented. CSP engages nonprofits, foundations, universities, agencies, and other partners to address critical questions in conservation biology and landscape ecology. Along with their core staff, they draw on a network of professionals from a wide range of disciplines.

Position Overview: CSP is seeking a Lead Scientist passionate about ecology and conservation to help support and drive the Changing Landscapes Lab. The Lead Scientist will join a team of ecologists, biologists, and data scientists working to advance conservation and climate adaptation science by accounting for the interacting trajectories of global changes in climates, land use, and biodiversity in socio-ecological systems. Projects involve coordinating with research and management partners in federal, state, local, non-profit, and private sectors to produce more effective conservation, management, and research outputs. In general, Lead Scientists in the Changing Landscapes Lab contribute to and lead a range of projects focused on addressing multiple conservation objectives, including mitigating and adapting to climate change, facilitating ecological connectivity and resilience, restoring and protecting habitat, and promoting human-wildlife coexistence in increasingly modified landscapes. This position will focus initially on large-scale river and floodplain protection and conservation prioritization efforts in the U.S., conducted in close partnership with CSP’s non-profit and university partners. The Lead Scientist should have well-developed problem-solving, statistical, and analytical thinking capabilities and a demonstrated record of applying these skills to ecological research. They should demonstrate attention to reproducibility and quality assurance/quality control in all their work. CSP is looking for someone with excellent organizational and communication (oral and written) skills who can balance several projects simultaneously. They seek a candidate with deep curiosity directed toward diverse research interests, as well as aptitude and enthusiasm to develop new skills and areas of expertise. It is expected that this position contributes to an internal culture of diversity, equity, inclusion, innovation, creativity, and experimentation, and helps to advance the function, direction, and initiatives of the organization. See full job description for further details.

Duties:

• Contributing to the design, development, and management of multiple projects simultaneously,
  including both long-term partnerships and short-turnaround projects responding to pressing
  conservation opportunities, as well as leading or guiding advanced technical steps for these
  efforts.
• Demonstrating capacity to work in creative collaboration with diverse partners, including core
  staff, contractors, clients, postdocs, graduate students, and others to ensure research questions,
  methods, and outcomes are clear, and to support appropriate communication, interpretation,
  translation, and use of scientific products for multiple audiences, including land managers and
  policy makers.
• Experience with a range of ecological and environmental data types (e.g., terrestrial/aquatic
  ecosystem health data, pollutant and other EPA datasets, remote sensing datasets, species
  detection data) and modeling approaches (e.g., hydrological modeling; ecosystem service
  modeling; network and/or connectivity analyses; hierarchical regression analyses, potentially in
  a Bayesian framework) using reproducible workflows developed in statistical programming
  languages such as R or Python.
• Strong familiarity with a variety of spatial datasets, including hydrologic, topographic, land cover
  and/or climatological datasets, and experience incorporating such datasets into statistical/spatial
  analyses.
• Knowledge of common Geographic Information System data formats and tools to download,
  process, map, and export such data. Preparing or deriving GIS and other spatial data layers,
  including metadata, and tabular data sources for use in modeling, reporting, and planning
  activities, using a variety of tools and cloud-based platforms (e.g., Google Earth Engine, QGIS,
  ArcGIS).
• Supervising the activities of one or more staff scientists, postdoctoral scientists, and/or
  contractors, as appropriate.
• Supporting existing or developing new funding partnerships and revenue streams, helping to
  sustain this position over the longer term.
• Developing and supporting manuscripts, reports, and professional presentations.
• Learning new methods and software for specific projects, as appropriate.

Qualifications: PhD (or equivalent experience) in ecology, conservation biology, or a related
field and a minimum of three years of research or professional experience.

Start Date: No later than June 1

Salary/Pay: $75,000 – $85,000 depending on experience

Application deadline: April 10

How to Apply: Please email a cover letter explaining how your goals, skills, and experience fit the core responsibilities of the role and please also describe how your broader knowledge and experiences can contribute to CSP’s organizational culture and values. Include the names and contact information of at least three relevant professional references, as well as your CV and a writing sample for which you are the sole or primary author, and send to: hiring@csp–inc.org. Your cover letter, reference list, CV, and writing sample should be compiled and sent as a single PDF file. Please indicate FRESHWATER SCIENTIST in the subject line.