The Gund Institute for Ecological Economics seeks a postdoctoral researcher to develop rigorous and practical models that predict crop pollination services across agricultural landscapes. The position is part of a new collaborative project funded by the USDA, “Developing Sustainable Pollination Strategies for U.S. Specialty Crops.” The aim of this project is to understand how farm management practices affect pollinators, and to develop recommendations for harnessing native bees for crop pollination. The 3-year position will be directed by Taylor Ricketts at The University of Vermont and co-advised by Eric Lonsdorf, Research Scientist at the Chicago Botanic Garden.
The postdoctoral researcher will: develop a spatially-explicit statistical model integrating the ecology and economics of crop pollination services (building on our initial modeling efforts); work closely with project field teams to apply this model to several agricultural landscapes and crops within the US; use the fitted models to predict impacts of habitat enhancements on pollinator communities and crop productivity. The post-doctoral researcher will work closely with both Dr. Ricketts and Dr. Lonsdorf, and will interact continuously with the broader project team (www.icpbees.org).
Applicants must have a doctoral degree in ecology, economics, agricultural science, or related fields. Successful candidates will have strong quantitative and statistical modeling skills, expertise in pollination or landscape ecology, successful experience with interdisciplinary collaboration, and a commitment to connecting research to real-world land management.
Applicants should send a letter of interest, curriculum vitae, and contact information for three references to Taylor Ricketts, Director, Gund Institute for Ecological Economics, at taylor.ricketts@uvm.edu. Review of applications will begin on April 12, 2013 and we anticipate a start date of July 1, 2013.
The University of Vermont is located in Burlington, between the Green and Adirondack Mountains and on the shores of Lake Champlain. The Gund Institute is a transdisciplinary environmental research center involving 20 Faculty Fellows, visiting scholars, and graduate students (www.uvm.edu/giee/). Related efforts at UVM include a university-wide research initiative in Food Systems.
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