USGS National Synthesis of Prescribed Fire under Nonstationarity

Organization

U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI)

DOI-USGS-2026-68

• Applications will be reviewed on a rolling-basis.

This opportunity is based at the National Climate Adaptation Science Center (NCASC), located at USGS headquarters in Reston, Virginia. Hybrid arrangements are available.

The USGS mission is to monitor, analyze, and predict current and evolving dynamics of complex human and natural Earth-system interactions and to deliver actionable intelligence at scales and time frames. The National and Regional Climate Adaptation Science Center (NRCASC) Network, based at USGS headquarters in Reston, Virginia, is a partnership-driven program that teams scientific researchers with natural and cultural resource managers and local communities to help fish, wildlife, waters, and lands across the country adapt to changing conditions.

The National Climate Adaptation Science Center (NCASC) provides leadership on administration, partnerships, information management, and communications, and conducts research on climate-change impacts to ecosystems, fish, and wildlife at national and multi-regional scales. One of NCASC s primary roles is to convene subject-matter experts on the application of best-available ecological science to pressing land- and ecosystem-management challenges, and to provide synthesis assessments at a national scale relevant to decision makers.

As the Nation s largest water, earth, and biological science and civilian mapping agency, USGS collects, monitors, analyzes, and provides science about natural resource conditions, issues, and problems.

This project will provide training on the development, implementation, and analysis of a national research initiative to assess barriers and opportunities surrounding the effective use of intentional fire (prescribed fire, cultural burning, and managed wildfire) under non-stationarity. You will gain experience in technical skills, analytical skills, and coordination to advance understanding of current information needs and research priorities for intentional fire in a changing climate;

explore the decision and management barriers to its effective use; and synthesize opportunities for effective implementation. Key research and technical activities include:

• Learn about collaborative wildfire science, prescribed fire research, and science-to-management partnerships through participation in a national group involving federal and academic scientists, fire managers, and partners across multiple agencies.
• Gain experience and skills in planning and coordination under mentor guidance, including agenda development, meeting materials, facilitator support, committee activities, and logistical coordination.
• Collaborate on a national assessment focused on barriers and opportunities for prescribed fire implementation under non-stationary environmental conditions while learning how actionable science and decision-theoretic approaches inform management and policy decisions.
• Gain skills through literature review, organization of scientific information, and support for associated data analysis and communication materials, including peer-reviewed publications.
• Gain professional development and mentorship in collaborative research, scientific synthesis, science communication, and the application of science to on-the-ground fire management information needs.

Results of this will inform the future of prescribed fire management by clarifying ecological, social, and governance constraints and identifying decision-informed research opportunities to support resilient ecosystems. There will be additional opportunities for you to collaborate with Regional CASCs on fire-related research projects, as well as to explore other areas with applications to decision-relevant research topics.

• Strengthen expertise in fire science and fire-use decision models. You will gain additional insight and experience applying fire use decision models, multi criteria decision analysis, scenario planning, and other actionable science tools to advance robust decision making in the field of prescribed fire…