Faculty research assistant: forest surveying (internal employment opportunity)

Department: Forest Ecosystems and Society

Special Instructions to Applicants: This is an Internal Employment Opportunity. When applying you will be required to attach the following electronic documents: 1) A resume/CV; and 2) A cover letter indicating how your qualifications and experience have prepared you for this position. 3) Supplemental Questions: Please attach as a separate document a) What experience do you have using the gradient-nearest neighbor for mapping vegetation? b) What experience do you have with predictive mapping of post-fire forest structures and dynamics?

Starting salary will be commensurate with skills, education, and experience. For additional information please contact: Matt Reilly Matt.Reilly@oregonstate.edu

Job Summary:

This is an Internal Employment Opportunity. The Department of Forest Ecosystems and Society invites applications for a full-time (1.00 FTE), 12-month, fixed-term Faculty Research Assistant: Forest Surveying position. Reappointment is at the discretion of the Department Head. The College of Forestry’s Forest Ecosystems and Society department explores how forests shape — and are shaped by — people, policy and the environment. Teaching and research span ecology, conservation, recreation, restoration and environmental policy. Students learn through participating in research and field experience in Oregon and around the world, preparing them to lead across disciplines, inform decisions and create sustainable solutions for forests, people and the planet.

This position assists in research activities focused on developing spatial products to support forest management and climate adaptation to increasing fire and climate change across forested landscapes of the western United States. It will participate in ongoing research projects and provide spatial analysis in support of fire and climate change adaptation. This position will use remote-sensing products (e.g. Landsat) and analysis platforms (e.g. python, Google Earth Engine) to create predictive maps and analysis tools for mapping and characterizing delayed tree mortality following fire, mapping of fire refugia, and mapping of post-fire forest structure and composition. Also, it will participate in summarizing data in tables and figures, documenting methodologies, and creating meta-data for spatial products. The position will also include analyzing/interpreting data, drawing conclusions regarding research from these analyses, and participating in scholarly activities (including co-authoring publications, making scientific presentations, etc.)

Key Responsibilities:

• Data analysis
• Development of spatial tools for visualization and summary.

Qualifications:

Required Qualifications:

• A MS (or foreign equivalent) in geographic information systems with experience in forest science, forest ecology, fire ecology, or a closely related area prior to the start of the appointment.
• Experience conducting statistical analyses and drawing relevant conclusions for developing and implementing remote sensing approaches to characterize post-fire vegetation dynamics using large regional inventories and time series data.
• Specific experience using and developing packages in Python and Google Earth Engine for validating results, creating spatial models with the Gradient Nearest Neighbor Method (GNN) and machine learning approaches, and developing online visualization tools is required.
• Experience in analyzing/interpreting data, drawing conclusions regarding research from these analyses, and participating in scholarly activities (including co-authoring publications, making scientific presentations, etc.) in the context of mapping vegetation conditions, fire effects, and post-fire disturbance.
• Familiarity with forest and fire ecology of the western United States.
• Ability to conduct independent research
• Commitment to promoting inclusive excellence in the sciences

Preferred Qualifications:

• Ability to work effectively in and collaborate on interdisciplinary teams addressing key contemporary research questions.
• Commitment and ability to serve a variety of regional stakeholders and to apply research results to forest management issues.

Working Conditions/Schedule:

Work will be performed in an office environment

Salary Range:

Salary commensurate with skills, education, and experience.

Anticipated Start Date:

2026-10-05

Anticipated End Date:

2027-06-30

We are an Equal Opportunity Employer, including disability, protected veteran, and other protected status. OSU will conduct a review of the National Sex Offender Public website prior to hire. OSU is a fair chance employer committed to inclusive hiring. We encourage applications from candidates who bring a wide range of lived experience including involvement with the justice system. If this position has “critical or security-sensitive” responsibilities and/or driving duties and you are selected as a finalist, your initial job offer will be contingent upon the results of a job-related pre-employment check (such as a background check, motor vehicle history check, sexual misconduct reference check, etc.). Background check results do not automatically disqualify a candidate. Take a look at our Background Checks website including the for candidates section for more details. If you have questions or concerns about the pre-employment check, please contact OSU’s Employee and Labor Relations team at employee.relations@oregonstate.edu.