Hcsu Postdoctoral Research Analyst; Plant Translocation

• HCSU POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCH ANALYST (PLANT TRANSLOCATION) – # 226320

RCUH is a State agency, established by the Legislature in 1965, and is attached to the University of Hawai'i for administrative purposes. Its enabling legislation is codified as Chapter 304A - 3001 to 3011 of the Hawai'i Revised Statutes.

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HCSU POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCH ANALYST (PLANT TRANSLOCATION) – # 226320

HCSU POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCH ANALYST (PLANT TRANSLOCATION) – # 226320.

CLOSING DATE:
June 30, 2026, or until filled. Job postings are removed from the RCUH Job Openings site once the recruitment process has ended. INQUIRIES:
Lori Bufil  (Hawai'i).

Regular, Full-Time, RCUH Non-Civil Service position with the Hawai'i Cooperative Studies Unit (HCSU) at the University of Hawai'i at Hilo (UHH) in collaboration with the United States Geological Survey Pacific Island Ecosystems Research Center (USGS PIERC). Work location is in the USGS PIERC office in Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park on the island of Hawai'i. Continuation of employment is dependent upon program/operational needs, satisfactory work performance, availability of funds, and compliance with applicable Federal/State laws.

MONTHLY SALARY RANGE: $5,833 - $6,250/Mon.

We arehiring a postdoc to help develop the analytical backbone of an appliedconservation research effort focused on Hawai'i's rarest plant species. Rare plant managers across the state are watching the landscape shift beneath their feet asclimate, fire, and invasive pressures intensify, and they need better tools to understandwhere they can focus out planting, one of the primary conservation actions  are looking for someone to help develop and refine species distributionmodels, build out planting performance models that link survival data to environmental conditions, and work with messy, real-world monitoring datasets from across the state'srare plant conservation network.

The work spans everything from machine learning and climate perturbation analysis to building R Shiny tools that put results directly in thehands of conservation managers making planting decisions. This position will work with rare plant experts, field practitioners, and data managers across multiple islands and institutions, to collectively shape the priorities for climate-resilientoutplanting efforts to safeguard multiple endangered/threatened plants. We're looking for someone with strong R and spatial modeling skills, experience wranglingheterogeneous ecological data, and expertise in using AI tools as part of their daily workflow.

PhD required. See the full position description for details and application instructions below. Works with the Pacific Islands Ecological Research Center (PIERC) project leader and multi-agency team to develop and apply species distribution models (SDMs) using machine learning and statistical methods to predict habitat suitability for rare Hawaiian plant species under historical, current, and perturbed climate conditions. Builds out-planting performance models linking survival and vigor data from field monitoring programs to environmental covariates at planting sites.

Conducts climate sensitivity and perturbation analyses to distinguish climate-resilient sites from climate-vulnerable one. Integrates and harmonizes out-planting monitoring data from multiple partner organizations (USFWS, PEPP, ANRPO, PTA, NPS) that vary in structure, completeness, and quality. Works with partner database and data managers to compile, clean, and standardize datasets for analysis. Collaborates with PEPP coordinators and field practitioners to incorporate expert knowledge into modeling workflows, including expert-sources performance categories and practitioner-selected reference sites for microhabitat matching.

Produces spatial data products, maps, and interactive tools (e.g., R Shiny applications, web maps) to communicate model outputs to conservation managers. Contributes to peer-reviewed publications, technical reports, and presentations summarizing analytical methods and results. Assists with preparing all research products for the USGS policy and quality reviews, such as Fundamental Science Practices (FSP). Uses AI-assisted tools (large language models, AI coding assistants, and related technologies) as a regular part of the analytical workflow to accelerate code development, support statistical…