The Northern Research Station is conducting a pre-vacancy announcement outreach for a highly skilled
and qualified candidate to fill a term Interdisciplinary - Research Ecologist, GS-0408-12, Research
Forester GS-0460-12, or Research Physical Scientist GS-1301-12 position with a duty station at the Silas
Little Forest in New Lisbon, New Jersey. This notification is being circulated to inform prospective
applicants of this upcoming opportunity and to determine interest in the position.
Please send Nicholas S. Skowronski an email at nicholas.s.skowronski@usda.gov ASAP to request an application form, as it is due by February 1, 2025.
Position
The scientist is a member of the Northern Research Station (NRS) Research Work Unit NRS-17: Physical
and Ecological Fire Processes, Interactions, and Applications.
The Post-Doctoral Scholar will have responsibilities that span two projects:
“How does ember production and dispersal distance vary with pre- and post-treatment fuelbeds
and weather?”“Developing detailed Emission Source Terms for Next-Generation Wildland Fire and Smoke
Modeling Tools using improved near-field fire measurements.”
These efforts are multi-disciplinary and include investigations that will be performed in laboratory settings, through field-based experimentation, observations of operational prescribed fires, and various modeling approaches. The incumbent will work with scientists, technical staff, and students from within the Research Work Unit and from numerous collaboration institutions including Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Los Alamos National Laboratory, The University of Edinburgh, The University of Melbourne, and others.
The incumbent will be responsible for the field-sampling portions of these projects that will occur mostly in the New Jersey Pinelands but will also include regional and nationwide sampling as opportunities are presented. Fieldwork will include measurements of fuels, environmental variables, and of fire dynamics over a variety of spatial scales in environments before, during and after wildland and experimental outdoor fires. The nature of this work allows us to consider a broad range and combinations of skills as we fill this position. We encourage applicants with experience in any combination of the following: fire science, field sampling, wildland fire, sensors and data loggers, computation fluid dynamics modeling and remote sensing.
Duty Location
The Silas Little Experimental Forest (SLEF) is located about 3 miles south of New Lisbon, NJ
(unincorporated community). It is situated in the 38,000-acre Brendan T. Byrne State Forest and 1.1-million-acre National Pinelands Reserve. In addition to research opportunities, the surrounding forests and wetlands offer many outdoor recreational activities such as camping, hiking, mountain biking, birding, fishing and hunting. Living options within 30 minutes of the SLEF range from urban to rural, with some of the best school districts in the State within an easy commute. Nearby communities with affordable housing include Browns Mills, Presidential Lakes and Country Lake Estates. Larger communities nearby include Medford and Whiting, with the major metropolitan areas of Philadelphia and New York City located within 50 miles. The SLEF is also located within 25 miles of the famous New Jersey shoreline that offers swimming, boating, and surf fishing.
