Postdoctoral Researcher - Madagascar

About the Islands 2030 Team:

Islands 2030 is a new strategic initiative at the California Academy of Sciences working to create a new paradigm for conservation work by introducing a novel, evolutionary perspective. Working on five tropical archipelagos around the world, we’ll focus on six broad groups of terrestrial plants and animals that will allow us to understand how biological communities are formed on islands, and what happens at the ecosystem-level when stable communities fall out of equilibrium.

We will:

1) Document biodiversity by digitizing collections data and launching new, comprehensive expeditions, resulting in the most complete inventory of terrestrial flora and fauna in these regions to date

2) Collect genomic data to assess and model the evolutionary history and vulnerability of each island assemblage

3) Predict species loss under current trends

4) Develop a “resilience score” (the likelihood that an island will experience ecosystem collapse) that allows us to direct resources to the places that will most effectively sustain island communities into the future.

The five archipelagos—the Galapagos, Lesser Antilles, Madagascar, Philippines, and Gulf of Guinea islands—were chosen because they: collectively span each major ocean and represent a range of geologic ages and levels of isolation from the mainland; are sites of longstanding Academy investment in both scientific research and community relationships; are sites where our Hope for Reefs initiative has a historical and/or current presence.

Key Responsibilities

• Conducts original biodiversity science research of Madagascar terrestrial taxa in collaboration with Academy scientists and external partners.
• Collaborates on data collection, analysis, and visualization of biodiversity data
• Provides mentorship to undergraduate and graduate students
• Provides regular updates on project progress to funders and partners
• Dedicated to and supports the training of scientists and building capacity in developing countries and to increasing participation of groups historically underrepresented in systematics, evolutionary biology and sustainability. 
• Disseminates findings in written technical reports and academic publications, as well as oral presentations at scientific conferences and public meetings
• Provides specimen identification in areas of expertise as appropriate
• Participates in the Academy's fieldwork, as needed
• Follows all Academy safety regulations
• Other duties as assigned

Qualifications: A successful candidate will have the following:

Experience and/or Education:

A qualified candidate will possess a combination of the following experience and/or equivalent education:

• Ph.D. degree in evolutionary biology, ecology, statistics, bioinformatics, data science, or related fields. 
• 5 years or more of research experience in biodiversity science, including doctoral work. 
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills (English) and experience in communicating research findings. 
• Strong interest in biodiversity and ability to communicate that passion. 

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities: 

• Expertise in biodiversity data analysis and/or modeling.
• Experience in reproducible workflows, code version control, and management (Git, GitHub)
• Works as a part of multi-disciplinary teams and diverse stakeholder groups
• Committed to working on a team that is striving to be anti-racist in work, interactions, systems, and tools
• Excellent organizational skills and attention to detail
• Ability to work independently and as a member of interdisciplinary teams on cross-cutting issues
• Flexible and creative
• Expertise in R programming and statistical environment for the integration, manipulation, and analysis of big data, preferred.
• Experience in geospatial analysis and data visualization (R, QGIS, ArcGIS, etc.), preferred.
• Experience leading research in Madagascar preferred.
• Ability to read and interpret documents such as safety rules, operating and maintenance instructions, and procedure manuals

Physical Environment:
To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential job duty satisfactorily. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform essential job functions. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is frequently required to stand, sit, walk, use a computer, and communicate on the phone, in person, and online meetings/calls.  The employee will spend time out-of-doors at events and programs, occasionally in hot or inclement weather. Must be able to transport 30 lbs. Must be able to perform repetitive motions 50% of the time.