LTE Wildlife Research Scientist (Madison)

Position Summary

This position will support applied research and development of population metrics from Snapshot Wisconsin trail camera data to inform management of deer, turkeys, and other Wisconsin wildlife species.

Responsibilities

• Produce and improve upon annual decision-support products
• Pull and process Snapshot Wisconsin trail camera data from an Oracle database using custom R functions and packages
• Generate workflows for pulling covariate data, especially those that change in space and time (e.g., temperature and precipitation)
• Create procedures to visualize and understand raw data
• Assess data quality and identify inconsistencies in data that require further checking
• Create data workflow graphics and documentation to ensure consistent pulling and processing of data
• Model development
• Assess patterns in data to separate noise (e.g., sampling issues, classification differences, detection differences) from abundance trends
• Analyze trail camera data using a range of models with covariates (e.g., occupancy, N-mixture, Poisson regression, generalized additive mixed models, etc.)
• Running frequentist and Bayesian models with various fixed and random effect structures
• Assess model fit and model predictions
• Create visualizations of model predictions spatially and temporally
• Research communications
• Contribute to analysis and writing of peer-reviewed manuscripts, edit manuscripts, respond to reviewer comments, create graphs, tables, and supplemental material for manuscripts
• Conduct literature review and participate in reading group discussions of manuscripts
• Lead in writing of annual reports and developing PowerPoint presentations and posters for technical and lay audiences
• Generate dynamic reports to communicate annual decision support products
• Contribute to oral presentation for technical and lay audiences

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience in data science, quantitative ecology, biology or a related field
• Demonstrated proficiency with wrangling data in program R
• Demonstrated proficiency with running and assessing ecological models (e.g., hierarchical models, GAMMs) in program R
• Demonstrated proficiency with contributing to scientific writing (e.g., peer-reviewed papers)
• Demonstrated proficiency with markdowns and data visualizations using program R or similar
• Demonstrated proficiency processing and using spatial data in analyses (e.g., NLCD)
• Demonstrated proficiency in research data collaborations
• Master’s degree or higher in data science, statistics, quantitative ecology, biology or a related field (optional)
• Experience with trail camera research projects and trail camera data (optional)
• Experience giving scientific research presentations (optional)

Salary Information

This position pays between $27.68 per hour and is in pay schedule and range 15-03 in the Natural Resources Research Scientist-Senior classification. Compensation will be set in accordance with the State Compensation Plan.

Job Details

This is a Limited Term Employment (LTE) position and will not automatically lead to permanent state employment or be entitled to the same benefits as permanent employees.

Special Requirements

• Residency: To be considered for this position, you must be a resident of the State of Wisconsin.
• Background Checks: The Department of Natural Resources conducts criminal background checks on final applicants prior to a job offer.
• Eligible to work in U.S.: Applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States at the time of hire.

Equal Opportunity Employer

The DNR is an equal opportunity employer that promotes and values diversity. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, ethnicity, religion, national origin, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability.

How To Apply

Click the “Apply for Job” button and follow the directions. You will be able to save your application as many times as needed and make edits up until the point you submit your application. Once you submit your application, you will not be able to make any updates to the application or any materials submitted.

Deadline to Apply

Applications must be received by 11:59pm, Central Time, on July 13th, 2026 in order to be considered.