Pantropical Vegetation Dynamics Postdoctoral Fellow

Pan tropical Vegetation Dynamics Postdoctoral Fellow

The Climate and Ecosystem Sciences Division at Berkeley Lab seeks a Pan tropical Vegetation Dynamics Postdoctoral Fellow to combine observational synthesis, ecological theory, and numerical models to explore the dynamics of tropical forests responding and feeding back to climate. The position is part of the NGEE-Tropics project ( (Use the "Apply for this Job" box below). ), a long-term, DOE-funded effort to bring together observational and theoretical approaches to build, inform, and test the representation of tropical forests within Earth system models.

NGEE-Tropics aims to fill the critical gaps in knowledge of tropical forest-climate system interactions, and works on cutting edge advancements in model predictions of tropical forest responses to a changing climate over the 21st Century.

We invite outstanding early career scientists to apply for a postdoctoral research position focused on Pan tropical Vegetation Dynamics. The successful candidate will investigate processes associated with the large-scale structure and function of tropical forests, and how these are governed by plant traits as represented with a vegetation demography model. A central focus of this work is the study of mechanistic process-level controls on forest dynamics, including processes such as nutrient cycling and plant hydraulics, and how ecosystems respond to moisture and temperature stress, as well as anthropogenic and natural disturbances.

The postdoctoral researcher will have the opportunity to develop and pursue hypothesis-driven research within the broader goals of the NGEE-Tropics project.

We’re here for the same mission, to bring science solutions to the world. Join our team and YOU will play a supporting role in our goal to address global challenges! Have a high level of impact and work for an organization associated with 17 Nobel Prizes!

We invest in our employees by offering a total rewards package you can count on:

Exceptional health and retirement benefits , including pension or 401K-style plans

A culture where you’ll belong - we are invested in our teams!

In addition to accruing vacation and sick time, we also have a Winter Holiday Shutdown every year.

Parental bonding leave (for both mothers and fathers)

You will:

Run and test the ELM-FATES (E3SM Land Model configured to include the Functionally Assembled Terrestrial Ecosystem Simulator) against multiple observational datasets at site to pan tropical scales

Apply ecological and plant physiological theory to explore mechanistic process controls and plant trait variation on ecosystem structure and the large-scale exchange of carbon, water and energy for tropical forests.

Analyze complex datasets with the NGEE-Tropics data team, including eddy covariance, forest census, plant ecophysiology, remote sensing, land use/land cover change

Investigate land-atmosphere feedbacks at time scales ranging from hourly to centennial, including under a range of climate and land use change scenarios

Publish results in high-quality journals and contribute to proposals involving tropical biosphere-atmosphere interactions.

Participate and present results in meetings and conferences

We are looking for:

PhD in relevant field (e.g. climate science, ecology, plant physiology, forestry, geography)

Background in data intensive processing and analysis using open-source code (e.g., Python, R)

Demonstrated proficiency in code documentation and reproducibility, and collaboration platforms (e.g., Git Hub, Jupyter Notebook, R Markdown)

An ability to understand and write land surface model code (e.g., FORTRAN) and interest in the application and testing of state-of-the-art land-surface models and/or Earth system models

Record of publishing research in peer-reviewed journals

Desire to work within an integrated, multi-institution team whose activities span from field research to Earth system model development

Desired skills/knowledge:

Solid background in ecological, plant physiological, and biogeochemical theory

We particularly encourage applicants with field experience or other backgrounds working in tropical forests

Availability to travel for meetings at partner institutions

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