Agency

University of Georgia

Location

Athens, GA (preferred)

Job Category

Post Doctoral Appointments

Salary

55,000

Last Date to Apply

01/01/2023

Website

https://www.ugajobsearch.com/postings/288526

Description

We are currently seeking applicants for a 2-year postdoctoral position to plan and oversee a colonial waterbird monitoring project in Georgia’s Coastal Plain using aerial and ground-based surveys. This monitoring program will generate population estimates of a variety of wading birds, including great egret, snowy egret, cattle egret, white ibis, double-crested cormorant, and anhinga. There is a particular interest in estimating population sizes of several State Wildlife Action Plan (SWAP) listed wading birds, including tricolored heron and little blue heron, that are not tracked well by current aerial surveys. The selected applicant will be expected to lead or assist with the following objectives: compiling existing wading bird data for Georgia using all available sources; refining the survey protocol for a broad coastal plain survey of colonial waterbirds (likely combining aerial and ground counts); developing a relational database to house this data; assisting with recruiting and training partners to conduct the survey; analyzing survey data to generate estimates of nesting pairs of all colonial waterbirds using Georgia’s Coastal Plain; sharing data via the Avian Knowledge Network or other comparable multistate database. This project will be connected to a multi-state effort being spearheaded by Virginia’s Division of Game and Inland Fish and is expected to produce a monitoring protocol that can be replicated in the future and that produces data that can be shared meaningfully among states and across the ranges of priority wading birds. The selected applicant will be jointly supervised by Clark Rushing (University of Georgia) and Tim Keyes (Georgia Dept. of Natural Resources) and will work in cooperation with other state and federal agencies to ensure that data collection is comparable with the multi-state effort and can be shared through the Avian Knowledge Network. Preference will be given applicants willing to move to Athens, GA and start in late winter/early spring 2023 but remote positions and alternative timelines will be considered. Interested applicants should submit the following documents via the UGA jobs portal: • 1.5-page (max) cover letter summarizing your interest in the position, qualifications, and the names and contact information for three professional references. • Curriculum Vitae • Unofficial transcripts Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis until the position is filled. Please contact Clark Rushing (clark.rushing@uga.edu) with questions.

Qualifications

• Ph.D. in wildlife biology, management, ecology, or related discipline • Demonstrated experience designing wildlife survey protocols, especially for aerial surveys • Demonstrated experience analyzing common types of ecological data, including counts, capture-recapture, or telemetry data, to estimate population parameters • Experience building and fitting hierarchical models using Bayesian methods preferred • Excellent written and verbal communication skills

Contact Person

Clark Rushing

Contact eMail

clark.rushing@uga.edu

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