Post Doctoral Research Associate

JOB PURPOSE

The Aikens Lab at the University of Wyoming, in collaboration with the Kauffman Lab at the U.S. Geological Survey Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, seeks a Postdoctoral Research Associate to lead analyses on a new migration ecology and climate resilience project. This project will quantify the interacting effects of drought-induced shifts in plant phenology and anthropogenic development on the function and resilience of mule deer migration across the American West.

The postdoc will have access to an unparalleled west-wide GPS tracking dataset assembled in collaboration with the USGS Corridor Mapping Team. The dataset spans 152 herds, 9,673 individual mule deer, and >44 million GPS locations, contributed by ten state wildlife agencies, two Tribal nations, and one Canadian province. These movement data will be integrated with remotely sensed products on plant phenology, drought, and landscape development.

The postdoc will be expected to pursue synthetic, independent research that advances the broader goals of the project, and they may have the opportunity to develop additional projects that emerge from this unique dataset and collaborative partnership.

The Aikens Lab integrates movement ecology with computational and data science approaches to understand how wildlife respond to environmental change. The lab is jointly housed in the School of Computing and the Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources at the University of Wyoming. The postdoc will be co‑advised by Dr. Ellen Aikens and Dr. Matthew Kauffman and will work closely with the Wyoming Migration Initiative, state and Tribal wildlife agency partners, and the broader Corridor Mapping Team.

The postdoc will have access to a wide range of supercomputing resources (ARCC, AI4WY, NCAR).

• Lead research projects.
• Publish work in peer-reviewed journals.
• Present research findings at conferences and during regular co‑operator meetings.
• Mentor undergraduate and graduate students.

• A Doctoral Degree is required for this position, however, consideration will be given to applicants that are currently pursuing their Doctoral Degree and will complete the degree prior to starting work.
• Candidates must hold a PhD in data science, ecology, wildlife biology, geography, computational biology, or a related field.

• Demonstrated expertise in spatial analyses of animal location data and/or analysis of large ecological datasets.
• Strong programming skills in R and/or python.
• Strong scientific writing skills, evidenced through a track record of publication in peer-reviewed journals, including at least one first‑author publication.
• Experience processing and analyzing satellite remote sensing data using cloud-based platforms like Google Earth Engine.
• Experience with version control (git/github) and reproducible research workflows.
• Demonstrated ability to communicate scientific results to managers, agency partners, and other stakeholders.
• Experience working within multi‑institution collaborations involving agency and Tribal partners.
• Familiarity with ungulate ecology and western U.S. ecosystems.