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The University of California, Santa Barbara seeks a highly motivated postdoctoral scholar to lead a new research program examining how wildlife communities respond to the rapidly expanding wildland-urban interface.

As development increasingly borders and fragments natural habitat, an important set of ecological and conservation questions is emerging: How do animal communities change across the transition from relatively intact wildlands to developed landscapes? Which species tolerate or exploit edges, and which are displaced by them? Do protected lands adjacent to development function as refuges, foraging habitat, or movement corridors? How do human-associated resources alter wildlife behavior and food webs? Can strategically-protected habitat at the wildland-urban boundary help sustain ecological communities while reducing negative interactions between wildlife and people?

This research will address these questions in the Santa Barbara foothills surrounding Los Padres National Forest, an area of mountain wildlands abutting developed coastal landscapes. Specific research questions will be developed collaboratively with the successful candidate, who will have substantial intellectual freedom to shape the scientific direction of the project. Example research questions may include:

● How do vertebrate species richness, community composition, and activity change across gradients of human development?
● Which species are most sensitive to wildland-urban edges, and which species benefit from or tolerate them?
● Does wildlife activity become increasingly nocturnal near residences and other human activity?
● How do responses to development differ among mammals, birds, bats, amphibians, and other vertebrate groups?
● How do wildlife responses to developed edges change seasonally or during periods of drought and resource limitation?
● Do protected areas at the wildland-urban boundary function primarily as habitat, refuge, foraging areas, or movement corridors?
● How does proximity to development alter wildlife diets and trophic interactions?
● When and why do wildlife begin relying on human-associated foods, ornamental vegetation, commensal prey, or other anthropogenic resources?
● More broadly, what characteristics make protected lands at the wildland-urban interface most effective at maintaining biodiversity and ecological function?

The project will be designed to integrate multiple complementary approaches. Specific methodologies will be shaped collaboratively with the successful candidate based on their expertise and research interests and may include:

● deployment and analysis of a camera-trap array
● standardized wildlife scat surveys
● environmental and scat DNA approaches
● non-invasive genetic identification and genotyping of focal wildlife species
● dietary DNA metabarcoding
● passive acoustic monitoring of birds, bats, amphibians, and other vocal taxa
● automated/AI-assisted classification of camera and acoustic data
● spatial analyses of wildlife occurrence and activity
● quantitative analysis of biodiversity, activity, behavior, diet, and community composition
● integration of field, molecular, and environmental datasets

The successful candidate will be encouraged to develop additional questions that take advantage of this study system and to use the resulting datasets as a foundation for independent publications and external funding proposals.
The postdoctoral scholar will take the lead in developing field and analytical research plans; managing research logistics; coordinating field sampling; collecting, managing, and analyzing data; working with collaborators conducting molecular and other specialized analyses; preparing peer-reviewed publications; presenting results at scientific conferences; and communicating findings to relevant stakeholders and the broader community.

Additional funding is available to support these related research questions.
The project will also establish a rigorous ecological baseline for long-term monitoring or impact studies. This will allow future studies to quantify wildlife responses to wildfire, drought, vegetation change, restoration, invasive-species management, or other environmental disturbances rather than attempting to reconstruct ecological conditions retrospectively.

The postdoc will work closely with Professors at UC Santa Barbara, along with additional UCSB researchers and project collaborators. The position will be based at UC Santa Barbara, with regular field work in the Santa Barbara foothills. This position is fully funded for two years by the UCSB Schmidt Environmental Solutions Program.

As a condition of employment, the finalist will be required to disclose if they are subject to any final administrative or judicial decisions within the last seven years determining that they committed any misconduct.

• “Misconduct” means any violation of the policies or laws governing conduct at the applicant’s previous place of employment, including, but not limited to, violations of policies or laws prohibiting sexual harassment, sexual assault, or other forms of harassment or discrimination as defined by the employer.
• UC Sexual Violence and Sexual Harassment Policy
• UC Anti-Discrimination Policy for Employees, students and third parties
• APM - 035: Affirmative Action and Nondiscrimination in Employment

Additionally, you will be required to comply with the University of California Policy on Vaccination Programs, as may be amended or revised from time to time. Federal, state, or local public health directives may impose additional requirements.

The University of California is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, age, protected veteran status, or other protected status under state or federal law.