Dryland Biocrust Meta-analysis

Job Summary

Ecology and Evolutionary Biology encourage applications for a Temporary Researcher!

Biological soil crusts are communities of moss, lichen, and cyanobacteria that occur at the mineral soil surface in drylands around the globe. Biocrusts serve important ecosystem services including soil stabilization and fertility. Biocrusts are vulnerable to both physical disturbance and climate change and can be slow to recover. Much work around the world has gone into understanding how to cultivate and restore biocrusts using laboratory, greenhouse, and field techniques. To understand whether these restoration efforts are successful and under what conditions they are most likely to succeed, we aim to build a database of biocrust restoration studies and to use meta-analysis to statistically test the results of these studies. The research assistant will review existing literature about dryland biological soil crust restoration, enter data into a database, and use R with RStudio to run meta-analytical statistical methods. The research assistant will have regular meetings and work sessions with researchers in the Barger Lab at CU Boulder to update on progress and trouble-shoot challenges. The research assistant is expected to clearly communicate, ask questions, be detail oriented, and have an interest in environmental sciences.
The University of Colorado Boulder is committed to building a culturally diverse community of faculty, staff, and students dedicated to contributing to an inclusive campus environment. We are an Equal Opportunity employer, including veterans and individuals with disabilities.

Who We Are

EBIO's disciplinary strengths include ecology, evolution, genetics, behavior, biology education research and systematics. Our research programs have relevance for global change, conservation biology, the spread of diseases, and revealing fundamental mechanisms underlying the structural and functional adaptations of organisms.

What Your Key Responsibilities Will Be

• Searching for relevant scientific articles.
• Reading scientific literature in detail.
• Extracting key pieces of information from literature sources.
• Maintaining and building a scientific database.
• Use online resources to access relevant environmental and climate data.
• Using R and RStudio to run linear models and meta-analysis.
• Reporting and communicating results.

What We Can Offer
The hiring range for this part-time appointment is $16-18.00 per hour.

Benefits
Temporary positions at the University of Colorado are not benefits-eligible, however, all positions are eligible for paid sick leave .

Be Statements

Be ambitious. Be pioneering. Be Boulder.

What We Require

• Previous experience reading scientific literature, previous experience working with large datasets in Excel, and experience with R with RStudio.

Special Instructions

To apply, please submit the following materials:

1. Resume/CV
2. Cover Letter
3. Optional: Statement Describing Research Related Goals

Review of applications will begin immediately and will continue until September 25th, 2023.

Note: Application materials will not be accepted via email. For consideration, applications must be submitted through CU Boulder Jobs.

Posting Contact Information

Posting Contact Name: Boulder Campus Human Resources

Posting Contact Email: Recruiting@colorado.edu