Wildland Fuels Research Scientist

About the position

KBR's Science and Space division is seeking a Software Engineer/Web Developer to support our Technical Support Services Contract (TSSC) at the United States Geological Survey (USGS) Earth Resources Observation & Science (EROS) Center near Sioux Falls, SD. The primary focus of this position is to provide research support to the USGS team tasked with developing fuel treatment scenarios, developing inputs, running 3-dimensional fire behavior models, evaluating outputs, determining effectiveness of each scenario, and communicating results to partners both internally and externally. This will require advanced level science support with experience in remote sensing, image processing, scripting, fire behavior modeling, lidar, statistical analysis, and science communications. Project partners will provide the successful candidate with guidelines on expected methodology for developing model inputs, provide computing environment to run fire models, and guidance on scenarios design for model runs, desired outputs, and summarization content. The successful candidate will adjust methodology as needed and implement fuels mapping methods, establish QUIC-Fire modeling capability within provided computing environment, execute model runs, and summarize results, while providing ongoing communication of status and results to project partners and external groups.

Responsibilities

• Provide research support to USGS team to assist with developing fuel treatment scenarios, developing inputs and running 3-dimensional fire behavior models, evaluating outputs, and determining effectiveness of each scenario
• Assist with configuration of provided computing environment to run fire models
• Receive guidance on scenarios design for model runs, desired outputs, and summarization content
• Adjust methodology as needed and implement fuels mapping methods
• Execute model runs and summarize results
• Communicate status and results to project partners and external groups

Requirements

• Must have a 3-year residency in the United States
• This position requires the ability to obtain and maintain a national agency check and background investigation after hire to obtain credentials for facility access and user accounts.
• Education: PhD or advanced Degree or equivalent experience in ecology, landscape ecology, forestry, fire science, conservation science or another relevant field - especially study in how ecological systems function both naturally and after disturbance
• Years of Experience: Must have minimum 3-5 years of recent and related work experience in fire ecology and knowledge with plant community dynamics across the landscape
• Advanced understanding of ground, surface, and canopy fuel types/characteristics and their effects on wildland fire behavior in conjunction with environmental factors
• Understanding of the relationship between fire behavior and fire effects
• Experience with image processing and GIS software (e.g., ERDAS, ArcGIS, ArcPro, QGIS)
• Familiarity with raster and vector data processing and ability to perform spatial analysis and validation
• Strong interpersonal communication, technical writing, editing and presentation skills and an advanced knowledge of Microsoft office tools for reporting and documentation of processes and procedures

Nice-to-haves

• Experience in processing point cloud lidar data, GEDI waveform lidar, optical imagery, and fuels modeling
• Familiarity with high level programming languages and statistical software, such as Python or R
• Experience Identifying important factors that influence development or change fire behavior of sites or landscapes and develop approaches to address these issues, including extreme fire behavior
• Experience and interest in authoring process documentation, reports, and research papers
• Ability to work in a team environment to help shape, manage and execute projects applying geospatial data and systems to solve geospatial problems
• Ability to contribute to the definition, direction, and implementation of the Wildland Fuels Program
• Ability to self-teach in areas of weakness utilizing available on-the-job training resources

Benefits

• 401K plan with company match
• Medical insurance
• Dental insurance
• Vision insurance
• Life insurance
• AD&D insurance
• Flexible spending account
• Disability insurance
• Paid time off
• Flexible work schedule
• Professional training and development