Post-Doctoral Associate Position Description

We are recruiting a Post-Doctoral Associate to start Summer 2023 (or Fall 2023) to work on predicting occurrences of aquatic invasive species within the Upper Mississippi River Basin (UMRB). The successful candidate will work as part of a collaborative team to evaluate several questions regarding which predictors (physical, chemical, biological, anthropogenic, and geographic) work best in modeling the presence of AIS in the UMRB. The project also seeks to highlight species of concern and areas of high risk and high resilience. This project builds upon work done by the US Geological Survey (USGS) on horizon scanning and has co-PIs from USGS and University of Minnesota. Initial project work will be focused on meeting with an advisory panel, gather and understanding the data (including any data cleaning), and learning the statistical model framework (i.e., boosted regression trees). The Post-Doctoral Associate will work with a MS graduate research assistant in the Water Resource Sciences Program on the project. The results of the model will highlight areas for future research as well as provide meaningful information for management agencies focused on managing AIS in the UMRB. The project calls for outreach activities, including multiple workshops to be taught to interested collaborators and stakeholders as well as outreach with the Bell Museum of Natural History, the Post-Doctoral Associate would play a lead role in both. There is the possibility to start working on the project (paid) in Summer 2023. Candidates from underrepresented groups and/or with diverse backgrounds are highly encouraged to apply. The University seeks applicants whose research, teaching, and service will contribute to diversity, inclusion, and equal opportunity in higher education and at the University of Minnesota. Post-Doctoral Associates conduct research and/or service that provides further development of career skills or allows them opportunities to learn new research techniques. They are trained by and work in conjunction with a faculty mentor who determines the training agenda. Post-Doctoral Associates are receiving training while also performing services for the University of Minnesota, for which they are compensated. Note: These are not positions to which permanent residency can be granted for international appointees. Job Duties:

• Collation and organization of data from state, federal, and tribal agencies to support synthesis and data analyses.

• Meeting with collaborators and data keepers.

• Application of the modeling frameworks to the data and conducting statistical analyses.

• Lead data analysis, visualization, publishing manuscripts, and presenting/communicating results to a wide range of audiences.

• Assist with quantitative workshops.

• Contribute to report writing and budget management.

• Working with and providing mentoring to graduate student on project.