Postdoctoral Scholar Photon Informed Ecology Lab Geography Department

The Department of Geography, at the University of California, Santa Barbara seeks to hire a qualified candidate for a postdoctoral scholar to join Zoe Pierrat’s Photon Informed Ecology Lab (PIE Lab).

The postdoctoral scholar will engage in research at the intersection of remote sensing, ecosystem science, and climate-ecosystem interactions and will contribute to projects focused on multi-scale observations of ecosystem carbon and water fluxes. The position is well-suited for a candidate seeking to develop independent research ideas aligned with one or more of the following PIE lab themes:

Remote sensing of vegetation stress and function:
Integrating remote sensing data across scales to diagnose changes in plant physiological status, water use, productivity, and resilience under heat and drought stress.

Methodological development of remote sensing data products:
Including cross
- sensor harmonization, uncertainty characterization of existing metrics, algorithmic improvement for ET and GPP products, development of novel remote sensing products.

Leveraging remote sensing for societally relevant applications:
Using remote
sensing data products and derived data products to inform water resource
management, land-use planning, climate adaptation strategies, or other environmental decision making.

This position is well suited for candidates interested in leveraging remote sensing data across scales (i.e., proximal-airborne-satellite) and harmonizing data from spaceborne instruments including: ECOSTRESS, Orbiting Carbon Observatory, EMIT, GEDI (among others). The appointee may work on one or multiple additional ongoing lab projects, depending on interests and past experience as well as collaborate with researchers across campus in ecological modeling, plant physiology, hydrology, environmental science and management, mechanical engineering, computer science, among others.

The postdoctoral scholar will also be encouraged to take advantage of professional development opportunities available at UC Santa Barbara and through collaborations, meeting attendance, management workshop participation, etc.