Postdoctoral Scholar - Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Dr. Stepfanie Aguillon in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at UCLA invites applicants for a full-time Postdoctoral Scholar. This position is an in-person two-year appointment, contingent upon satisfactory performance after the first year, with a flexible start date as early as October 2026.

Research in The Aguillon Lab focuses on understanding the speciation process through the use of genomic datasets collected from the field and natural history collections. Ongoing research leverages hybridizing bird systems, which provide natural experiments that test the boundaries between closely related species.

The successful candidate will analyze whole genome sequencing datasets from a North American woodpecker hybrid zone to characterize patterns of introgression and selection, and connect genomic variation to phenotypic and environmental variables. The position involves analyzing existing data, leading publications, writing grants, and potentially collecting new data in the molecular lab and field. In addition to working with existing sequencing data, the postdoc will have the flexibility to develop independent research projects and collaborate with other lab members: including working with long-read genomic sequencing for the study of genomic structural variation and collecting phenotypic data from museum specimens to study coloration.

The ideal candidate will have an interest in the study of speciation and hybridization. They will have strong bioinformatic coding skills for the study of genomic datasets from birds and/or hybrid zones and molecular lab and/or field experience. Importantly, the ideal candidate will have an interest in joining a new and growing lab community.