IMPORTANT: This Advertiser has requested that applicants MUST be National Residents / Valid Work Permit-holders. Other applicants need not apply.
Title: Forest Growth and Yield Analyst
Level: T4
Reports to: Director of Spatial Analysis
Closing date: September 30th, 2010
Position Summary:
This position has been developed to address the needs of Ecotrust's forest carbon modeling projects. Under the supervision of the Director of Spatial Analysis, the growth and yield analyst will support Knowledge Systems staff in the development of methods for modeling and verifying forest carbon as well as researching the use of FIA and other forest plot data for use with on-line decision support tools.
Duties:
The growth and yield analyst will be expected to become familiar with and develop data for use in FVS (Forest Vegetation Simulation) and FPS (Forest Projection and Planning System), growth and yield modeling software with carbon modeling extensions, as we further calibrate these models. The growth and yield analyst will also be responsible for a review of literature (journals, web, books etc.) specific to various forest carbon measurement and monitoring protocols and the creation of an annotated bibliography of these sources. The growth and yield analyst may also be asked to do some basic GIS work.
Specifically duties may include:
- Review forest inventories to ensure they meet specific confidence level targets required for management evaluation or carbon projects
- Prepare forest inventory and stand cruise data for input into the Forest Vegetation Simulator (FVS) model and the Forest Projection and Planning System (FPS)
- Search for and obtain permanent plot data that can be used in tests of FVS and FPS
- Assist in calibration of FVS and FPS through model "experiments"
- Use USFS Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) data to characterize forest stand types across particular landscapes
- Create and revise carbon calculation models to evaluate potential carbon projects and provide documentation for outside carbon project verifiers
Duration of term:
This position has been established specifically for the completion of these duties and is restricted to funds specific to a major, 3 year project that involves development of tools that assist land owners in assessing the benefits of carbon offset markets. Continued employment is possible, but contingent on funding.
Desired Qualifications:
- Working knowledge of forest growth and yield modeling processes and software including FVS and FPS
- Familiarity with forest inventory data and/or timber cruise data
- Working knowledge of remote sensing methods
- Working knowledge of Microsoft Access or other database management systems
- Understanding of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) software, especially ArcGIS and ArcView
- Understanding of statistics particularly as applied to the forest sciences
- Understanding of scientific methods especially pertaining to forestry and other natural resource sciences.
- Self-motivated, independent person, willing to take initiative and be a part of the team
- Strong problem solving skills
- Excellent organizational skills
- Commitment to the Ecotrust mission
Competitive salary based on experience, position open until filled.
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