Job Title

Postdoctoral Research Associate

Agency

Texas A&M Agrilife Research

Department

Temple

Proposed Minimum Salary

Commensurate

Job Location

Temple, Texas

Job Type

Staff

Job Description

Job Description Summary

Texas A&M AgriLife Research at Temple is seeking a highly motivated scientist with expertise in ecosystem modeling, remote sensing, and geospatial technology. The ideal candidate will work and collaborate closely with a research team at Texas A&M AgriLife to support the modeling of crop yield, agricultural greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and carbon/nitrogen cycling under various soil health management practices.

Essential Duties/Tasks

• Responsible for aggregating extensive field data collected from farmers' fields and gathering soil and climatic information from a wide range of publicly available sources, including satellite-based images, to conduct simulations with process-based models.

• Works independently to operate, test, validate model outputs, identify gaps, and enhance prediction accuracy of models by integrating new datasets generated to address identified gaps.

• Contributes to understanding the impacts of soil health management practices (e.g., reduced tillage, cover crops, residue management) on soil water dynamics, carbon sequestration, and crop yields at different temporal and spatial scales.

• Drafts peer-reviewed scientific publications, and actively contributes to developing proposals are other key considerations.

• Performs other duties as assigned.

  Qualifications

Required Education and Experience:

• PhD in Agronomy, Agricultural Engineering, Geosciences, Environmental sciences, or closely related discipline.

Required Knowledge, Abilities and Skills:

• Strong background in process-based ecosystem modeling.

• Ability to multi-task and work cooperatively with others.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience in major process-based models such as DayCent, DSSAT, EPIC, or others.

• Proficiency in handling remotely sensed geospatial datasets and programming languages, particularly R or Python.

• Knowledge, experience, and interest in assessing the impacts of agricultural management practices on environmental outcomes, such as carbon/nitrogen cycling, carbon sequestration, GHG emissions, and global warming potential.

• Excellent academic record, including authored/co-authored publications and contributions to significant scientific meetings, seminars, and conferences.

• Strong oral and written communication skills.

All positions are security-sensitive. Applicants are subject to a criminal history investigation, and employment is contingent upon the institution’s verification of credentials and/or other information required by the institution’s procedures, including the completion of the criminal history check.

Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action/Veterans/Disability Employer.