PDF versionJob Summary
This position is located in the United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Plains Area, Rangeland Resources and Systems Research Unit with one vacancy in Fort Collins, Colorado.
Major Duties
- Support research to sustain or enhance agricultural production and environmental quality in agroecosystems characteristic of the western Great Plains.
- Plan, organize and perform complex image processing and geospatial analysis for airborne and satellite remote sensing data from semi-arid rangeland ecosystems; develop high-level products based on multi-spectral and hyperspectral data.
- Assist with experimental site selection using geostatistics; conduct appropriate data quality control and assurance as well as data analyses in the areas of study; prepare data summaries and analytics for visualization of data.
- Design and perform geospatial data analyses to support research on vegetation dynamics, livestock foraging behavior, soils, soil water dynamics, ecosystem productivity, and associated linkages to livestock production in rangeland ecosystems.
- Lead efforts to enhance cross-site collaborative geospatial efforts within the Long-Term Agroecosystem Research (LTAR) network via big-data management, distributed computing (HPC), standardized workflows, analytics, and visualization.
- Maintain and develop strategic plans for sophisticated remote sensing and geospatial research, including computer platforms and hardware, software, and associated data management pipelines.
- Collect, review, perform quality assurance/quality control, and correct data from a wide array of remote sensing and geospatial technologies and public sources, and manage geospatial datasets in a relational database environment.
- Recognize observed conditions and results that may affect research findings; interpret findings and experimental results in terms of their scientific significance and impact; detect inconsistencies and initiate action to resolve issues.
- Evaluate geospatial data quality and ensures the integrity of all geospatial data used in scientific analyses.
- Develop spatially explicit data products, thematic maps, and other spatial visualization tools; prepare graphical and tabular summarizations of data and write technical reports that detail methods used and interpretation of results.
- Perform literature searches and assist in manuscript preparation.
- Analyze and manage geospatial data using contemporary and sophisticated software and programming tools (e.g., Python and R scripting)
Qualifications
Applicants must meet all qualifications and eligibility requirements by the closing date of the announcement including specialized experience and/or education, as defined below. Basic Requirements: Degree: physical science, engineering, or mathematics that included 24 semester hours in physical science and/or related engineering science such as mechanics, dynamics, properties of materials, and electronics. OR Combination of education and experience: education equivalent to one of the majors shown in A above that included at least 24 semester hours in physical science and/or related engineering science, plus appropriate experience or additional education. AND In addition to the basic requirement above, all applicants must meet the following minimum qualifications: At the GS-11: Specialized Experience: Specialized experience is experience directly related to the position to be filled. Specialized experience must be described for each grade level advertised. The specialized experience requirements for this position are: Qualifying experience for GS-11 includes one year of specialized experience comparable to GS-09 which is directly related to the work of this position and which has equipped the applicant with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position. For this position, specialized experience is experience conducting research related to hydrology, ecology or geology in rangeland agroecosystems; working with remote sensing data and associated scientific analytical methods; and operating scientific programming or high performance computing to perform computationally intensive analyses on big data (i.e. 10's - 100's of Gigabytes). OR 3 years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. degree or Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree, if related. OR A combination of Ph.D. level education and specialized experience as described above. Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religious; spiritual; community, student, social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.
Pay Range
$70,181.00 - $91,234.00