Postdoctoral Fellowship en National Museum of Natural History, Washington

Postdoctoral Fellowship, Evolution of Terrestrial Ecosystem (ETE) Program, Paleobiology Department, Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History, Washington, D.C.

Application Deadline: May 15, 2014

Applications are invited for a two-year Postdoctoral Fellowship in ecological community assembly and disassembly through time. This appointment provides a stipend of $45 K/yr and may be renewable for a second 2 years. The successful applicant will be expected to conduct independent macroecological research as part of an NSF-funded Research Coordination Network, “Synthesizing Deep Time and Recent Community Ecology,” which is investigating patterns and causal processes of animal and plant community assembly and disassembly over geological time and up to the present day. Duties will involve data management and analyses and involvement in the scholarly activities of ETE, including workshops, presentations at professional meetings, etc. In addition, the awardee will be encourage to lead one or more group projects that align with their interests.

General information about the ETE Program can be found at http://www.mnh.si.edu/ete/ and about the Paleobiology Department at http://www.nmnh.si.edu/paleo//index.html. More information about the ETE – RCN can be found at http://www.mnh.si.edu/ete/ETE_Research_RCN.html.

The ETE-RCN Fellow will be co-advised by Kate Lyons (www.mnh.si.edu/ete/ETE_People_Lyons.html), Kay Behrensmeyer (www.mnh.si.edu/ete/ETE_People_Behrensmeyer.html) and Nick Gotelli (www.uvm.edu/~ngotelli/homepage.html). The position will be based at the NMNH in Washington DC.

Priority will be given to applicants who use recent and/or fossil data to understand factors affecting community structure in plants and/or animals. Applicants should have good communication skills, a proven record of research accomplishment, and knowledge of ecology, paleoecology, macroecology, or a related field. Fluency in R programming, expertise in modeling and spatial and temporal analyses, and a record of working with large databases are highly desirable. Knowledge of SQL is a plus. Applicants must have a PhD before starting the fellowship.

To apply, send as a single pdf including: (1) cover letter describing your interest in this post-doctoral position, relevant experience including R coding examples, and preferred start date; 2) a brief statement of research interests (3) curriculum vitae; (4) a pdf of publication or other outlet where R code was used. In addition, please arrange to have two letters of reference sent to Dr. Kate Lyons (lyonss2@si.edu).

Application materials should be received by 15 May 2014, addressed to: lyonss2@si.edu.