Postdoctoral Fellow Hidden Markov Modeling

[cooch]

Postdoctoral Fellow - Hidden Markov Modeling of Spread of Fire and Invasive Species

Colorado Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit in the Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology, Colorado State University, and USGS Southwest Biological Science Center

POSITION TITLE: Post-doctoral Fellow
SALARY: $67,000-$70,000 per year, plus benefits.
PERFORMANCE PERIOD: 24 months after start date, anticipate September 2025 – August 2027.
APPLICATION DEADLINE: 11 August 2025

POSITION SUMMARY:

Colorado State University is seeking candidates for a postdoctoral position to develop new models for forecasting the spread of wildfire and of invasive species. The primary objectives for this post-doctoral position are to (1) Develop and fit hidden Markov models to multiple fires that have occurred in the Southwest United States and test performance of models and transferability to other fires in the Southwest, to learn from the spread of observed fires to inform management of landscapes and better understand spatial variation in fires risk and how this risk can be mitigated; and (2) Develop multistate occupancy models that can be fit to detection/non-detection data and used to forecast future spread of invasive species, with developed models being transferable to multiple systems, increasing their usefulness and impact to management.


DUTIES:

The post-doctoral fellow will be primarily supervised by Dr. Bill Kendall at the USGS Colorado Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, at Colorado State University. The incumbent will also work closely with Dr. Charles Yackulic at the USGS Southwest Biological Science Center.


MINIUMUM REQUIREMENTS:

1. Ph.D. in conservation science, ecology, natural resources, statistics, or a related discipline.
2. Expertise in the principles and methods of wildlife monitoring and statistical methods used for modeling population and other system dynamics.
3. Demonstrated proficiency with statistical software including R.
4. Demonstrated evidence of excellent written and oral communication skills.
5. Demonstrated evidence of publishing in the peer-reviewed literature.


DESIRED ABILITIES:

Competitive candidates will have a background in hidden Markov modeling for demographic estimation and population modeling, spatial modeling,. Experience in JAGS, OpenBUGS, STAN, or Nimble software is desirable. The successful candidate should have experience and enjoy working collaboratively in groups.

TO APPLY:

To apply and view a full position announcement please visit: https://jobs.colostate.edu/postings/164244 by 11 August, 2025, 11:59 pm (MT) for full consideration.

CSU is an EO/EA/AA employer and conducts background checks on all final candidates.


For further information, contact:
Bill Kendall (William.Kendall@colostate.edu) or Charles Yackulic (cyackulic@usgs.gov)