Arctic Warming Postdoctoral Fellow (Climate & Ecosystems)

Berkeley Lab (LBNL) addresses the world’s most urgent scientific challenges by advancing sustainable energy, protecting human health, creating new materials, and revealing the origin and fate of the universe. Founded in 1931, Berkeley Lab’s scientific expertise has been recognized with 13 Nobel prizes. The University of California manages Berkeley Lab for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science.

Position Summary:

Berkeley Lab’s Climate & Ecosystems Division has an opening for a Arctic Warming Postdoctoral Fellow . You will pioneer a new type of permafrost-tundra warming experiment. This is an exciting opportunity for a Postdoctoral Scholar who will work with a team of scientists studying ecosystem response to warming in Alaska as part of the Next Generation Ecosystem Experiment - Arctic (NGEE). You will develop and implement a novel soil warming experiment on the Seward Peninsula of Alaska and measure the impact on CO2 and CH4 fluxes and other aspects of biogeochemical cycling. They will improve the design based on our successful prototype, manage the instrumentation of the site for warming and microclimate monitoring, carry out measurement campaigns, and write papers based on the experiment. They will help coordinate work by others at the experiment, and assist NGEE team members with their research on trace gas flux, energy balance, and shrub distributions in the Arctic at other locations. The successful candidate will be largely responsible for running the experiment, archiving data, and collaborating with scientists from other disciplines. Data from the warming experiment will also be used by the larger team to develop empirical assessments and test models. The successful candidate will spend a significant amount of time in Alaska.  At Berkeley Lab, they will work with Margaret Torn, Bill Riley, and others.

The position start time is Spring 2017. To be considered, (1) provide your CV; (2) one-two page application letter describing research interests and relevant experience; (3) contact information for three references; and (4) one-two publications via LBNL’s jobs portal.

What You Will Do:

• Design (starting from prototype) and implement field warming experiment in Alaska.

• Maintain experiment in good working order.

• Measure trace gas flux and other effects of warming.

• Publish papers and give presentations on the results of the warming experiment in context of Arctic warming.

• Conduct field work in Alaska.

• Analyze data with appropriate statistics.

• Perform rigorous QA/QC on data, archive, and share data with NGEE Arctic team.

• Interact with modeling team to help evaluate and improve soil biogeochemical models.

• Contribute to presentations, progress reports, and other support of the NGEE project.

Additional Responsibilities as needed:

• Compare plot-scale fluxes to eddy-covariance fluxes of CO2, and CH4.

• Contribute to other aspects of the teams work, depending on interest and time available, such as determining controls of shrub distributions, measuring vegetation albedo or eddy fluxes, and comparing observations to model predictions.

What Is Required:

• Recent Ph.D. in ecology, earth sciences, biometeorology or related field.

• Demonstrated technical aptitude with microclimate or flux instrumentation or similar.

• Record of publishing and presenting at scientific conferences.

• Expertise in biogeochemistry and/or biometeorology through field work or modeling.

• Ability to work with large data sets and perform statistical analyses.

• Ability to work effectively in a physically demanding job and to work safely in remote harsh environments.

• Able to work both independently and as part of team.

• Demonstrated ability to develop and articulate rigorous high-impact scientific results.

Additional Desired Qualifications:

• Background in Arctic soils and/or effect of climate change on Arctic ecosystems.

• Previous backcountry experience in cold climates.

• Ability to carry and use heavy field instruments.

• Experience conducting team research.

The posting shall remain open until the position is filled.

Notes:

• This is a full time, 1 year, postdoctoral appointment with the possibility of renewal based upon satisfactory job performance, continuing availability of funds and ongoing operational needs. You must have less than 4 years paid postdoctoral experience. Salary for Postdoctoral positions depends on years of experience post-degree.

• Full-time, M-F, exempt (monthly paid) from overtime pay.

• This position is represented by a union for collective bargaining purposes.

• Salary will be predetermined based on postdoctoral step rates.

• This position is contingent on the successful completion of a background check.

• Work will be primarily performed at: Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, CA.

Equal Employment Opportunity: Berkeley Lab is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, age, or protected veteran status. Berkeley Lab is in compliance with the Pay Transparency Nondiscrimination Provision under 41 CFR 60-1.4.  Click here to view the poster and supplement: "Equal Employment Opportunity is the Law."