Two opportunties are available for post-doc positions in a collaborative project between the Southern Research Station and Northern Research Station focused on remote sensing of forest vegetation.
The project's goal is to investigate the use of biometric plot data and Terrestrial Laser Scanning (TLS) data to improve the prediction and scaling of forest conditions (i.e. forest fuels, biomass, ecological conditions, fire effects, and other related metrics) across forested stands when coupled with landscape tree metrics derived from Airborne Laser Scanning (ALS). The project also aims to improve the scaling ability between TLS and ALS data within canopies, between phenological conditions, between ALS acquisitions, and between pre- and post- wildland fire conditions using creative approaches (e.g., machine learning, high-performance computing, surface modeling, spatial statistics and predictions, etc.).
We encourage forward and outside-the-box thinking, field and laboratory work, and working with the larger LiDAR and fire modeling community, all for bridging fire science with fire management. The projected is focused in frequently prescribed burned pine-dominated ecosystems of the southeastern and northeastern U.S., where scaling of pre and post-burn scanning data could be highly utilized by forest managers in federal,
state, and private lands management.
Postdocs will work with a well-established team of fire scientists at either the Forest Service Lab in Athens, GA or the Silas Little Experimental Forest in New Lisbon, NJ. If interested please contact:
FS post-doc 1 lead, Southern Research Station, Center for Forest Health and Disturbance, Athens, GA: Dr. Louise Loudermilk: eva.l.loudermilk@usda.gov
FS post-doc 2 lead, Northern Research Station, Silas Little Experimental Forest, New Lisbon, NJ: Dr. Mike Gallagher: michael.r.gallagher@usda.gov
