USDA-ARS Postdoctoral Fellowship in Soil and Crop Modeling

Organization

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)

USDA-ARS-MWA-

10/23/2026 3:00:00 PM Eastern Time Zone

• Applications are reviewed on a rolling-basis.

A research opportunity is currently available with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Agricultural Research Service (ARS), located in Madison, Wisconsin. The Agricultural Research Service (ARS) is the U.S. Department of Agriculture's chief scientific in-house research agency with a mission to find solutions to agricultural problems that affect Americans every day from field to table. ARS will deliver cutting-edge, scientific tools and innovative solutions for American farmers, producers, industry, and communities to support the nourishment and well-being of all people;

sustain our nation’s agroecosystems and natural resources; and ensure the economic competitiveness and excellence of our agriculture. The vision of the agency is to provide global leadership in agricultural discoveries through scientific excellence.

The Environmentally Integrated Dairy Management Research Unit (EIDMRU) within the U.S. Dairy Forage Research Center (DFRC) has an opportunity for a Post Doctoral Research Fellow to engage in a process and statistical modeling research opportunity focused on improving nutrient use efficiency in Midwest dairy agroecosystems. You will participate closely with USDA-ARS Research Soil Scientists to apply a whole farm process model (Ruminant Farm Systems model-Soil and Crop Module;

RuFaS-SCM) to predict crop yields, nutrient uptake and losses; perform model calibration/validation as needed. In addition, you will have an opportunity to use well established crop/farm decision support tools to quantify cropping system, nutrient input, and weather impacts on soil erosion and losses of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) in surface runoff from long‑term paired watersheds. Results of the study will improve nutrient use efficiency and advance our knowledge of dairy agroecosystem soil‑plant‑nutrient interactions.

In addition, results will support dairy and agri‑environmental stakeholder efforts to improve nutrient loss prediction and development and application of the RuFaS‑SCM.

You will participate alongside USDA-ARS and university scientists on nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) in surface runoff losses in the dairy forage system.

• Apply RuFaS-SCM to support USDA-ARS research priorities in nutrient use efficiency and dairy agroecosystem sustainability.
• Use model calibration, validation, and performance evaluation using USDA-ARS long-term datasets to develop manure nutrient management strategies in the dairy agroecosystem.
• Evaluate crop and farm decision‑support tools to evaluate how management practices and weather influence soil erosion and nutrient runoff.
• Understand soil–plant–nutrient interactions that influence sustainability in dairy forage systems.

The mentor for this opportunity is Pradip Adhikari (pradip.adhikari). If you have questions about the nature of the research, please contact the mentor(s).

October 2026. Start date is flexible and will depend on a variety of factors.

The appointment will initially be for one year, but may be renewed upon recommendation of ARS and is contingent on the availability of funds.

The appointment is full time.

The participant will receive a monthly stipend commensurate with educational level and experience.

This opportunity is available to U.S. citizens only.

This program, administered by ORAU through its contract with the U.S. Department of Energy…