Ecologist; Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Ecologist (Postdoctoral Research Fellow), IS-0408-09

Final date to receive applications: 10 June 2026

Department:
National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute

Employment Type:

Full Time

Location:

Front Royal, VA

Reporting To:
Supervisory Ecologist

Compensation: $72,737 - $94,563 / year

OPEN DATE:
May 27, 2026

CLOSING DATE:
June 10, 2026. POSITION TYPE:
Trust Fund

APPOINTMENT TYPE:
Temporary Not to Exceed Twelve (12) Months (may be extended based on funds availability)

SCHEDULE:

Full Time

DUTY

LOCATION:

Hillsborough, NJ

Position sensitivity and risk:
Non‑sensitive (NS) / Low Risk

Who May Apply:
Open to all Qualified Applicants

Trust Fund positions are funded through the Smithsonian endowment, revenue, and grants. Trust employees are not part of the civil service and do not lead to Federal status. They receive a benefits program that includes health, dental, vision insurance, life insurance, transit benefits, sick leave, family friendly leave, 403b retirement, and other benefits.

• Pass pre‑employment background check and subsequent background investigation for low risk positions.
• Complete a probationary period.
• Maintain a bank account for direct deposit/electronic transfer.
• The position is open to all candidates eligible to work in the United States. Proof of eligibility to work is not required to apply.
• Applicants must meet all qualification and eligibility requirements within 30 days of the closing date of this announcement.

The Smithsonian Institution is the world’s largest museum, education, and research complex, with 21 museums and the National Zoo. This position is located at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo & Conservation Biology Institute (NZCBI), Washington, DC.

Duke Farms is a 2,700‑acre living laboratory in New Jersey where restoration, research, and public engagement converge to test and scale real‑world conservation solutions. The Center for Conservation at Duke Farms builds on this foundation as a national platform that integrates long‑term socio‑ecological research with applied science, training, and decision‑support tools.

The Center’s mission is to close the gap between science and implementation, generating evidence, validating it in practice, and equipping partners to deploy it at scale.

The Smithsonian’s NZCBI is seeking a postdoctoral researcher to lead the development of next‑generation landscape connectivity science, advancing state‑of‑the‑art modeling approaches that integrate high‑resolution remote sensing, machine learning, and circuit‑ and network‑based methods. The postdoc will build reproducible, open‑source modeling pipelines and decision‑support tools, designed for platforms such as Google Earth Engine, that allow scenario testing, continuous updating, and direct application in planning and policy contexts.

This work will bridge cutting‑edge analytics with real‑world implementation, producing scalable tools that standardize methods across jurisdictions and enable practitioners to identify, prioritize, and operationalize connectivity solutions for biodiversity and climate resilience.

The post‑doctoral fellow will use available environmental and biodiversity data, demonstrating significant programming and analytical skills, to integrate remote sensing data layers and forecast how land‑use and land‑cover change, human impacts, resource availability, and projected climate change are predicted to impact structural and functional connectivity across New Jersey and beyond. He/she will create an ecological framework for analyses that can be replicated across other states throughout the region.

The post‑doctoral fellow will be encouraged and expected to develop their own research objectives that fit within the project.

Additional responsibilities include consulting and advising on professional matters to colleagues, Federal agencies, institutions, organizations, and the public; providing guidance and teaching to students and technicians; training staff, interns, fellows, students, and visiting scholars on specialized equipment and data interpretation; and ensuring safe and responsible work practices.

They will assist in the…