Faculty Research Assistant: Fish & Wildlife

Special instructions: Attach a resume/CV with complete academic and research history and a cover letter indicating how your qualifications and experience have prepared you for this position. Transcripts may be requested.

For additional information, contact James Peterson at jt.peterson@oregonstate.edu or 541-737-1963.

About the Role

The Department of Fisheries, Wildlife and Conservation Sciences invites applications for a full-time (1.00 FTE), 12-month, fixed-term Faculty Research Assistant position. Reappointment is at the discretion of the Department Head. The Faculty Research Assistant supports research on Pacific Northwest avian species monitored via autonomous recording units (ARUs) across managed landscapes in the region, working closely with the Pacific Northwest Research Station wildlife team on avian data collection, validation, and modeling.

College of Agricultural Sciences faculty are committed to enhancing student success by engaging students in quality academic, research, internships, global studies, and other experiential learning opportunities. There is an expectation that, as part of your role in the college, you embody and advance the principles and practices conveyed in the CAS CARE Commitment document.

FWCS is an academic unit that reports to the College of Agricultural Sciences. The Department is composed of approximately 300 staff, including academic faculty, research assistants, classified staff, graduate students, and temporary staff. Over $8 million of externally funded grants and contracts are received each year in support of science focused on basic ecological research, conservation, and sustainable use of fish and wildlife and their habitats. The Department is the largest in the College of Agricultural Sciences, with over 1000 students in 8 degree and certificate programs.

Responsibilities

• Validate species detections generated by BirdNET and PNW-Cnet against expert visual and auditory identification.
• Manage a large relational database of avian survey data, call validations, and audio files.
• Analyze ARU and avian distribution data using R, including script development for data management and modeling.
• Contribute to development of statistical models predicting species detection and occupancy.
• Write reports and co-author manuscripts for peer-reviewed publication.
• Collect field data independently in remote locations, with travel and backcountry camping as needed.
• Develop field protocols, monitor data quality, and summarize fieldwork outcomes.
• Coordinate and lead field crews.
• Identify PNW bird species by sight and sound, including discrimination of overlapping vocalizations in ARU spectrograms.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Wildlife Ecology or related field.
• Ability to identify birds in the Pacific Northwest visually and based on vocalizations.
• Experience in coordinating and leading fieldwork efforts.
• Experience with remote fieldwork both alone and as part of a team.
• Demonstrated ability to conduct independent and collaborative research.
• Demonstrated ability to independently meet deadlines and manage workloads.
• Proficiency in coding in R and Python.
• Experience developing Bayesian occupancy models.
• Experience processing audio data using BirdNet, PNW-Cnet, or other convolutional neural networks.
• Understanding of how wildlife monitoring informs forest management in the Pacific Northwest.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master’s Degree in Wildlife Science or related field.
• Experience analyzing data in R, Excel, and ArcGIS.
• Experience working with large multidisciplinary research teams.
• Strong written and oral communication skills.
• Experience contributing to scientific publications.

Schedule

Work will be done in office or fieldwork settings. Fieldwork will take place in the Pacific Northwest and may require travel up to 8 days with overnight travel, with workdays up to 12 hours. Fieldwork can be remote and may require camping on public land in remote field locations and be physically demanding. Fieldwork may require extensive hiking (up to 10 miles) while carrying a pack (up to 40 lbs). Office work will be done in Corvallis, Oregon or other Forest Service work stations.

Anticipated start date: September 14, 2026. Anticipated end date: June 30, 2027.