Postdoctoral Research Fellow - Ecological Data Science

The Yoder Lab in the Department of Biology at California State University Northridge (CSUN) invites applicants for a postdoctoral research fellow position. The successful applicant will collaborate on an NSF-funded project in ecological data science, refining and applying the TARDIS analysis pipeline to study plant populations’ responses to environmental variation over space and time. They will work with PI Jeremy Yoder (CSUN) and collaborators at Yale University to complete development of a TARDIS package for R, use simulation studies to understand the pipeline’s capabilities, and assist in managing a course-based undergraduate research experience.

About the role

• Collaborate on an NSF-funded project in ecological data science.
• Refine and apply the TARDIS analysis pipeline to study plant populations’ responses to environmental variation.
• Complete development of a TARDIS package for R.
• Conduct simulation studies to better understand the pipeline’s capabilities.
• Assist in management of a course-based undergraduate research experience, where students will build TARDIS models of individual plant species.

A full project description is available for download here.

Requirements

• A doctorate with dissertation research in plant ecology, evolutionary biology, or a closely related field, or a planned doctoral dissertation defense and graduation date prior to starting the position.
• Demonstrated experience with data science and programming in R, especially working with ecological and/or geospatial data.
• Research interests aligned with the project aims and/or the Yoder Lab’s research focus.
• Excellent written communication skills and strong familiarity with “classic” and contemporary research on geographical ecology.

Preferred Qualifications

• Species distribution modeling.
• Applications of machine learning in ecology.
• Empirical or simulation/theory studies of population demography.
• Phylogenetic comparative methods.
• Developing and publishing R packages.

Schedule

• Hybrid work possible for many project activities.
• Must live within a commutable distance of the CSUN campus at the position start date.
• Able to attend in-person meetings on campus multiple days per week.

The starting date is negotiable but ideally no later than the first quarter of 2027.

Pay

• Starting salary of $71,400/year with benefits.
• Planned cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) as specified by University policy.
• Up to three years of salary, pending satisfactory progress in the first year.

Benefits

• Support for travel to attend conferences and to meet with collaborators at Yale University.
• A postdoctoral mentoring plan, including professional development opportunities and progress tracking toward project aims and long-term career goals.