Postdoctoral fellow: ecological modeller (global change) (adelaide)

Position Details

Title: Postdoctoral Fellow, Ecological Modelling

Level: A

Salary: $98,574 – $105,611 per annum plus 17% superannuation contribution.

Term: Fixed term 24 months

Application Status: Open for applications until filled

Overview

We are seeking a dynamic and motivated Postdoctoral Fellow to join an interdisciplinary team investigating how ecological traits, environmental changes, and anthropogenic pressures have shaped the historical declines and extinctions of Australian mammals. The Fellow will work closely with leading academics and conservation practitioners to generate cutting‐edge ecological insights that directly inform evidence‐based conservation strategies.

Key Responsibilities

• Conduct research for two Australian Research Council projects (Discovery and Linkage) that employ natural history collections, environmental DNA and ecological models to reconstruct the timing, scale and rate of mammal declines in Australia.
• Use high‐performance computing to analyze past demographic changes and disentangle the ecological mechanisms that contributed to the initial decline and later extinction of Australia's unique mammals.
• Generate ecological insights that identify characteristics and threats most affecting extinction risk from environmental change.

Qualifications

• PhD in quantitative ecology, quantitative conservation biology, applied mathematics, or a related discipline.
• Publication record in peer‐reviewed literature relevant to the field.
• Strong computational and analytical programming skills.
• Proficiency in advanced statistical/data‐science languages such as R or Python.
• Experience working with geographic information systems.

Desirable Characteristics

• Experience building spatially explicit models, including metapopulation and/or individual‐based models.
• Knowledge of Bayesian methods, including Approximate Bayesian Computation.
• Experience with big data analysis and high‐performance computing environments.
• Knowledge of additional programming languages such as Julia, Matlab, C#, or C++.

Benefits

• Competitive salary commensurate with Level A.
• Employer superannuation contribution of 17%.
• Fixed‐term placement of 24 months with potential for continuation.