Department: College of Marine Science/0-2500-000

College/Division: College of Marine Science

Salary Plan: Temporary

Hiring Salary/Salary Range: $48,000 to $60,000

DUTIES:

The College of Marine Science and the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) at the University of South Florida (USF) are jointly seeking candidates for a Postdoctoral Research Associate position to work on an NSF-funded research project, NSF Convergence Accelerator Track E: The BlueGreen Action Platform, connecting communities upstream and downstream to improve nitrogen management. The goal of our research is to develop and launch the Blue-Green Action Platform, or BlueGAP, that will connect people in frontline communities across watersheds to address economic and health challenges caused by nitrogen pollution of water.

The postdoc will work primarily with Drs. Frank Muller-Karger and Steve Meyers (Marine Science), Dr. Maya Trotz (Civil and Environmental Engineering), Dr. Rebecca Zarger (Anthropology), and other members of the human-centered design team on developing background information on:

1) water quality parameters in coastal, estuarine, and riverine waters of the watersheds of the Mississippi River (Iowa), Tampa Bay (Florida), and Salt River (US Virgin Islands); and

2) water quality metrics in household drinking water systems in communities located in these watersheds. The postdoc will contribute to the development and implementation of a mobile application that helps the community understand the history and current status of these water quality metrics, and to distribute information that complements community stories and enables action to improve conditions where needed.

The postdoc will work with the BlueGAP Alliance and Academy programs that engage the community and provide capacity building, respectively. The postdoc will assist with partner communication beyond the project team. The postdoc will work in an integral manner with a team and help to establish and maintain partnerships with local individuals and community organizations in Iowa, Tampa Bay, Florida, and the US Virgin Islands. The postdoc will also be invited to participate in the NSF Accelerator curriculum, and interdisciplinary, and trans-institutional collaboration. This appointment will be for one year with the possibility for another year’s extension depending on job performance.

With this position there will be opportunities to contribute to research, writing grant proposals, mentoring undergraduate and graduate students, writing papers, teaching, and presenting project research to various audiences that support the postdoc’s professional development. In addition, the postdoc may be involved in co-development and delivery of participatory workshops with community partners in project sites and other research projects that emerge from the project’s community engaged research activities.

A strong and sustainable Blue Economy requires healthy watersheds. The Blue-Green Action Platform, BlueGAP, connects people and organizations across watersheds to overcome economic and health challenges caused by nitrogen pollution in their water and local environment. BlueGAP’s vision is to stimulate the Blue and Green Economies by accelerating convergence on best practices for nitrogen management. BlueGAP focuses on four objectives: 1. Advance human-centered design of solutions to pollution, 2. Integrate storytelling with cutting edge scientific evidence to identify leverage points for action, 3. Create inclusive educational materials to impact nitrogen management and inform communities, and 4. Establish a sustainability plan for BlueGAP. The core of BlueGAP is a systems model focused on local experiences and knowledge to show people the costs and benefits of actions at specific leverage points of nitrogen management. The BlueGAP team includes a diverse group of academic (University of South Florida, University of Iowa, Stetson Law School), non-governmental (Black In Marine Science), and quasi-governmental (Tampa Bay Estuary Program) organizations, and community and private sector organizations. They are partnering with Champions, initially from six community organizations from 3 differently sized pilot watersheds in Iowa, Florida, and the US Virgin Islands, to co-design and build capacity across watersheds. It couples two human-centric components, an Alliance and an Academy, with the virtual platform. BlueGAP contributes to improving the health of marine biological resources, water quality, and human health using information that is presently not readily accessible to the public.

QUALIFICATIONS (Education & Experience):

Minimum Qualifications:

Doctoral degree from an accredited institution or the highest degree appropriate in Marine and Estuarine Science, Limnology, Environmental Science, or related field, with a demonstrated record of successfully working within interdisciplinary research team settings. Knowledge of water quality observations, metrics, and best practices, and strategies for the open sharing of data are highly desired.

Preferred Qualifications:

We are looking for individuals that contribute to our successes in understanding nutrient biogeochemistry, water quality monitoring, relevant policy, broadening participation, community engaged research, and in collaborative, locally grounded perspectives. The successful applicant should fit into one or more of these themes and demonstrate expertise with working with academic and non-academic partners of diverse backgrounds, with local community stakeholders, with communicating science and engineering to diverse groups, and outreach.