[PCA] USGS Post-Doctorate Climate Change/Ornithology/Disease Job Announcement - California

[Patricia_DeAngelis at fws.gov]

Patricia S. De Angelis, Ph.D.
Botanist - Division of Scientific Authority
Chair - Plant Conservation Alliance - Medicinal Plant Working Group
US Fish & Wildlife Service
4401 N. Fairfax Dr., Suite 110
Arlington, VA  22203
703-358-1708 x1753
FAX: 703-358-2276

Promoting sustainable use and conservation of our native medicinal plants.
<www.nps.gov/plants/medicinal>


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Effects of climate change on the roof of the world: migratory birds and 
wetlands in the Central Asian Flyway

One of the most sensitive regions in the world, the Greater Himalaya, is 
known as both the ?roof of the world? because of its average elevation of 
over 3500 meters.  Warming is occurring at over three times the global 
average, and a rapid reduction in the volume of Himalayan glaciers has 
already been documented over the last decade (Xu et al., 2007).  In view 
of glacial melting, wetlands of this arid region that support large 
concentrations of species in small fragmented parcels have emerged as 
habitats of vital concern.  At the heart of the Central Asian Flyway, the 
Greater Himalaya region supports millions of migratory waterbirds that use 
the wetlands for breeding and as stepping stones to traverse from the 
Indian subcontinent to the Russian Arctic.  Migratory birds time their 
arrival at the breeding grounds to coincide with peaks in food abundance, 
including the chick-rearing period (Arzel et al., 2009), and climate 
change patterns can result in mismatched timing of migration that lowers 
breeding success and decrease population size (Both et al., 2006). Despite 
impending threats to waterbird populations in the Greater Himalayan 
region, there is a paucity of information on the response of species to 
climate change.  Such data are needed to support management actions and 
land use changes that seek to protect key wetland complexes for 
conservation of migratory waterbirds.

USGS seeks a postdoctoral candidate to investigate how the effects of 
warming and subsequent earlier runoff in the Greater Himalaya will 
influence bird migration chronology, selection of wintering sites, 
reproductive success, and change in susceptibility to pathogens such as 
highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) of the lethal subtype H5N1.  The 
U. S. Geological Survey is known for its experts in studies of migratory 
birds through the use of satellite telemetry.  Working in cooperation with 
the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, we have created one 
of the largest satellite telemetry datasets on waterbirds in the world 
with migration paths for more than 400 marked individuals.  Our satellite 
telemetry studies (www.werc.usgs.gov/ sattrack) provide an unmatched 
dataset of the region to develop spatial analyses, downscaling climatic 
changes to regional effects on runoff and land use, subsequent alteration 
of wetland habitats. 

Climate change is truly a global problem and the proposed project offers a 
unique opportunity for a postdoctoral scholar to conduct climate change 
research with Chinese (Chinese Academy of Sciences), Indian (Natural 
History Society of Bombay), and Mongolian (Wildlife Science and 
Conservation Centre of Mongolia) cooperators on existing datasets.  The 
candidate will have the opportunity to meet and work with partner 
institutions in the Central Asian Flyway, develop spatial datasets through 
advanced remote sensing tools (http://remotesensing.ou.edu/), and carry 
out fieldwork in the Central Asian Flyway, focusing on the Greater 
Himalaya region.  The candidate will be challenged with contributing to 
our understanding of migration and climate change effects stated 
explicitly in a proposal.  Multidisciplinary approaches are encouraged, 
and the candidate will be located in the vibrant San Francisco Bay Area 
where they may collaborate with scientists from the local academic 
community including the University of California at Berkeley, Davis, and 
Santa Cruz, Stanford, the California State Universities, and the USGS 
Menlo Park Science Center.

Proposed duty station: San Francisco Bay Estuary, CA

Areas of Ph.D.: Wildlife biology, ornithology, disease ecology (candidates 
holding a Ph.D. in other disciplines but with knowledge and skills 
relevant to the Research Opportunity may be considered).

Qualifications: Applicants must meet one of the following qualifications: 
research wildlife biologist, ecologist. (This type of research is 
performed by those who have backgrounds for the occupations stated. 
However, other titles may be applicable depending on the applicant's 
background, education, and research proposal.  The final classification of 
the position will be made by the Human Resources specialist.) 

Research Advisors: John Takekawa (707) 502-2000, john_takekawa at usgs.gov; 
Diann Prosser (301) 497-5914, diann_prosser at usgs.gov; Xiangming Xiao, 
University of Oklahoma (405) 325-8941, xiangming.xiao at ou.edu.
Human Resources Office contact: Candace Azevedo, (916) 278-9393, 
caazevedo at usgs.gov 
References:

Arzel, C., Elmberg, J., Guillemain, M., Lepley, M., Bosca, F., Legagneux, 
P. and Nogues, J.-B. (2009). A flyway perspective on food resource 
abundance in a long-distance migrant, the Eurasian teal (Anas crecca). J. 
Ornithol., 150, doi:10.1007/s10336-008-0318-6.
Both, C., Bouwhuis, S., Lessells, C.M. and Visser, M.E. (2006). Climate 
change and population declines in a long-distance migratory bird. Nature, 
441, 81-83.
Xu, T., Gong, T. and Liu, C. (2007). Decadal trends of climate in the 
Tibetan Plateau - regional temperature and precipitation. Hydrolog. 
Process., 22, 3056-3065.
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