Postdoctoral Fellow in Winegrape Research
The Temporal Ecology Lab is looking for a bright, motivated and collaborative researcher to join the lab and develop new winegrape models using Stan. The project combines decades of historical records with modern Bayesian modeling to address the challenge of shifting climate regimes on the wine industry, with implications for crops across the globe. The fellow will join an interdisciplinary team of researchers based across Canada, the United States and Europe.
The position would be based at the University of British Columbia in the Forest and Conservation Sciences Department. Applicants must be willing to travel to the Okanagan winegrowing region (in southern British Columbia) and France for field work and to meet with collaborators. Travel costs are covered by the lab (in advance of travel as needed).
The ideal researcher will be both able to lead current projects, develop their own projects, and support ongoing work in the lab. Current lab research covers a broad range of topics—climate change impacts via phenology on forests and winegrapes, community assembly via the temporal niche—using a variety of methods from field empirical data, to meta-analyses and analytical coexistence models. More details on the lab’s research can be found at www.temporalecology.org.
A successful applicant would have/be:
• Either a Ph.D. in computer science, statistics, physical sciences or related fields with a strong interest in agriculture and/or ecology/evolution, or a Ph.D. in evolution, ecology, agriculture or related fields with a strong interest in statistical modeling.
• Strong quantitative and computational skills.
• Experienced with R or Python (or similar skills), ideally with proficiency in LaTeX, git and Stan (applicants without experience in these languages must be excited to learn them quickly).
• Comfortable working with diverse file structures and large datasets (e.g., climate data in formats such as NetCDF).
• Excellent writing skills and good publication record.
• Experience relevant to mentoring undergraduate and graduate students
• Excellent record of being a good lab and community member.
To apply email the following in PDF format (preferably one file) to E. M. Wolkovich at e.wolkovich@ubc.ca (informal inquiries welcome):
• Cover letter (see ‘successful applicant’ list above and detail relevant skills and experience)
• Curriculum vitae
• Brief Description of research interests (maximum of two pages)
• Two examples of published papers (one in prep acceptable).
• Names and contact information of 3 references.
Application review will begin 15 May and continue until the position is filled.