Job Opening: Research Scientist, Coastal Forested Wetlands Project
The Stanford Wetland Ecosystems Group (WEG) is hiring a Research Scientist to work on an interdisciplinary and potentially paradigm-shifting initiative, led by key partner Collaborative Earth (CE), to enable landstewards in the Southeastern United States to regenerate forested wetlands by accessing emerging opportunities for payment-for-ecosystem services (PES). The initiative is currently being piloted in Prairie View, Texas, and its surrounding areas, with the campus of Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU) playing an important early role. We will expand to other communities, leveraging a multi-layered and data-rich map of habitat suitability and socio-economic need, which was developed in Collaborative Earth’s Coastal Forested Wetland Lab.
Key responsibilities
-Develop methodologies for restoration of ecologically diverse and resilient coastal forested wetlands in multiple locations throughout the American Southeast.
-Advance and codify our understanding of which restoration methodologies are most appropriate for specific sites, characterized by biophysical as well as socio-economic parameters.
-Collaborate with CE’s expert in Payment for Ecosystem Services and Plan Vivo Foundation to develop the first carbon and biodiversity crediting standards specific to Coastal Forested Wetlands.
-Collaborate with CE’s CFW Lead and other project partners, including hydrological modelers, to design a landscape-scale initiative for CFW restoration.
Project Partners
Collaborative Earth
-Aaron Hirsh, CE Org Lead
-Sarah Bergmann, CFW Project Lead and Labs Development Lead
-CFW Advisory Group, including Dr. Elliott White Jr., Stanford University (Lead); Dr. David Kaplan, University of Florida; and Dr. Lindsey Smart, Nature Conservancy
-Sarang Murthy, CE PES/NBS Lead
-Maureen Eldredge, CE Legal Lead
Prairie View A&M University
-Dr. Richard Griffin, Professor
-Dr. Elliott Washington, Forestry Extension Specialist
Plan Vivo Foundation
The ideal applicant should have a PhD and relevant professional experience related to forested wetlands. Applicants should have knowledge of forested wetland ecosystem function, structure, and field methods (e.g. ecology, hydrology, and biogeochemistry); in addition to experience with remote sensing, restoration ecology, payment for ecosystem services, or nature-based solutions. Further, the candidate will be goal oriented, can work independently on defined tasks, and can develop creative solutions to complex problems.
The hire would be a 100% Stanford employee with access to opportunities available to members of the Stanford community. Salary and benefits will be competitive, negotiable, and commensurate with experience. The following salary range is for employees based in California: $75,000 - $110,000. Remote work is possible for this position, but would be discussed as part of the hiring process. If not possible, the hire would be based in Dr. White Jr’s WEG, which is part of Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability’s Earth System Science Department. Independent of the hire’s home base, they will travel to PVAMU and the surrounding area to fulfill responsibilities of the project (i.e. site visits and stakeholder engagement).
There are two years of funding for this position. The hire can continue working in Dr. White Jr’s WEG past the two year period by collaboratively pursuing new funding opportunities for this work and/or new ideas.
To apply, please send a cover letter, relevant writing sample, and a CV (with contact information for three referees) to eewhite@stanford.edu and team@collaborative.earth. In your cover letter, please address the following questions:
-How do your education and experience to date prepare you to fill this role?
-How do your own interests and goals align with those of the CFW Project specifically?
-How would this position help you advance your own career goals and interests?
-And please feel free to tell us something else about yourself: Who is one of your heroes? What is one of your favorite books? What do you do when you’re not advancing PES and NBS?
Timeline
Please note that we have now pushed back the review period by one month!
-4/30 - Begin review and select top 3 candidates
-5/14 - Interview candidates
-5/21 - Select top candidate: Negotiations, Offer Letter, and Background Check
-6/16 - Earliest possible start date
Application review will begin on 4/30 with interviews tentatively beginning the week of 5/12. Start date is negotiable with 6/16 - 9/1 being ideal. We look forward to hearing from you!
About Us
The Wetland Ecosystem group is led by Dr. Elliott White Jr., who is an Assistant Professor of Earth System Science at the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability. We pursue socio-environmental research using a mix methods approach to address climate change impacts on coastal human and vegetative communities. We work across multiple geographies, often partnering with non-academic entities, and have a dynamic environment that makes space to support one another. As part of the WEG you would be able to contribute to ongoing forested wetland projects, lead the development of new proposals and subsequent projects, mentor WEG students, and publish (lead and co-author).
A bit more on Collaborative Earth: An innovative and rapidly growing organization, we bring people across disciplinary and cultural boundaries to form teams focused on actionable research at the interface of ecology and society. These teams, which we call CE Labs, draw on various areas of leading-edge science and technology, as well as deep local understanding, to chart novel and powerfully incentivized pathways to systems in which both society and ecology can thrive. CE Labs may follow several different trajectories to impact: They might simply deliver the product of their work—a powerful digital tool, for instance, or a visionary plan, or immediately actionable research—into the hands of those best-positioned to use it in pursuit of socio-ecological regeneration. Or they might spin out as an independent organization. Or they might transition into being a CE Project, in which the Collaborative itself works closely with a community to foster socio-ecological regeneration. An example of this third trajectory is CE’s CFW Project, which will be a primary focus of the new hire’s work.
