UCNRS

University of California Natural Reserve System

Current Openings

Budget Coordinator, Natural Reserve System, UC Office of the President

Postdoctoral Fellow, California Heartbeat Initiative, UC Berkeley

Reserve Director, Kenneth S. Norris Rancho Marino Reserve, UC Santa Barbara

Budget Coordinator

Natural Reserve System, UC Office of the President

Apply online at: https://jobs.ucop.edu/applicants/Central?quickFind=61766

Application deadline: 06-05-2019

The UC Natural Reserve System (NRS) makes available to the University community and to qualified research, educational, and public service users, an array of natural reserves that broadly represents California's ecological diversity, managing these reserves as study sites, outdoor laboratories, and "classrooms without walls." The NRS systemwide office, located in UCOP Research and Graduate Studies, Division of Academic Affairs, provides leadership and support for the 41 reserves within the system, each of which is assigned to one of nine general campuses for day-to-day administration. The systemwide office coordinates capital improvements, systemwide academic programs, management planning, acquisitions, administrative policies and guidelines, legal matters, budget proposals, fundraising campaigns, bond funds, contracts & grants, databases, publications and informational materials for 41 sites that include more than 750,000 acres throughout the state - the most extensive University system of protected natural areas in the world. 

Reporting to the NRS Executive Director, this position is responsible for providing budget and financial management for the NRS systemwide office, including: managing the annual budget process; establishing and monitoring fiscal controls and compliance over revenue streams and allocations; budget and financial research, analysis, and reporting; and participating in short- and long-term financial planning. Utilizing UCOP's existing and evolving financial systems, the incumbent works closely with the NRS Associate Director to oversee the day-to-day financial operations and expenditure control for the NRS systemwide office, including: managing the NRS chart of accounts (25 accounts); general ledger reconciliation; financial forecasting; managing the fiscal close process; fiscal management and tracking of bond funds, contracts, grants, endowments, gift donations, credit card income and data security, independent contractor agreements, and interlocation fund transfers. In addition, the Budget Coordinator provides, for NRS/UCOP senior leadership, fiscal research, data collection, analysis, and reporting, on NRS budgets and finances throughout the nine-campus system. 

The incumbent will serve as the primary NRS liaison with the OP Budget Office, centralized Business Resource Center (BRC), and UCLA Accounting (which provides accounts payable and budget support for UCOP), as well as key financial staff across the nine general campuses. The incumbent deals with complex problems and issues that impact the systemwide NRS office at OP and the 9-campus, 41-reserve NRS system. 

The Budget Coordinator uses skills as a seasoned, experienced professional with a full understanding of industry practices and UC policies and procedures; resolves a wide range of issues in imaginative as well as practical ways; works on problems of diverse scope where analysis of data requires evaluation of identifiable factors; and demonstrates good judgment in selecting methods and techniques for obtaining solutions. The incumbent's contacts are both internal and external to the NRS. 

Compensation: $84,000 - $99,000 commensurate with experience

Postdoctoral Fellow

California Heartbeat Initiative, UC Berkeley

With a focus on freshwater resources and ecological and hydrological change detection, we seek a postdoctoral scientist familiar with using remote sensing data analytics.

The position will focus on the application of new types of technologies (e.g., drone- and satellite-based remote sensing and ground-based wireless sensing networks) to detect and understand the key drivers underlying coupled ecological and hydrological changes in different ecosystems distributed on UC Natural Reserve lands and ANR Research & Extension Centers (RECs) across California. There are three primary focus areas, Blue Oak Ranch Reserve, Santa Cruz Island and Boyd Deep Canyon, along with 10 additional sites. This project is one component of the UCNRS’s developing California Heartbeat Initiative (CHI). This specific project position is embedded within the CHI program but focuses on how changes to hydrological resources at a range of spatial scales and over time can be better quantified and then linked to changes in vegetation type and function as well as water in and on the landscape.

Duties include joining an ongoing cross-reserve field effort using newly developed drone-based remote sensing products and on-the-ground microclimatic and topoclimatic sensing systems. Full-time field assistance is provided as well as close collaboration with a data science team with more than 20 years of experience in data acquisition, digestion, and analysis. Development of research avenues, data analysis and manuscript preparation, presentations at scientific conferences, and collaboration with project team on overall goals are all part of this position. This is a 1-year position. Start date: July 1, 2019

Applicants are expected to be highly motivated with: ability to work independently; experience and enthusiasm for team research; proficiency in data science (acquisition and analysis), remote sensing, image analysis and/or machine learning, and computer programming (e.g., R, MatLab, Python, C++); and the ability to successful communicate research results as stated above. This position will provide many opportunities for training on the use of cutting-edge drone methods.

Requirements for prospective postdocs:

  • PhD in a relevant discipline, completed before start date of post-doc
  • record of successful publication in peer-reviewed literature
  • strong background in the biological, hydrological, ecosystem and/or environmental sciences;
  • strong background in data analysis (statistics and/or modeling) using large data sets of a diverse nature (e.g., images, sensor time series, climatic and hydrological data).

Experience using drones is a positive, but not required.

Interested candidates should email the items listed below to Todd Dawson (tdawson@berkeley.edu), Peggy Fiedler (peggy.fiedler@ucop.edu), Maggi Kelly (maggi@berkeley.edu), and Becca Fenwick (bfenwick@ucsc.edu):

  • 1-2 page cover letter with a brief review of your research experience and expertise, broad interests and goals, and how they align with those associated with this project;
  • CV with your contact information
  • Contact information for at least three academic references.

Reserve Director

Kenneth S. Norris Rancho Marino Reserve, UC Santa Barbara

APPLY ONLINE at: https://jobs.ucsb.edu    Job #20190064     

Or at: jobs.ucsb.edu/applicants/Central?quickFind=193311

Application deadline: open until filled.

The University of California Santa Barbara Natural Reserve System invites applications for the position of Reserve Director at the Kenneth S. Norris Rancho Marino Reserve (KNRM; http://nrs.ucsb.edu/our-reserves/ksn-rancho-marino). The K.S.N. Rancho Marino Reserve is a physical field station located in San Luis Obispo County, bordering the south end of the town of Cambria, CA. The Reserve supports research, university level education, and land stewardship as part of the 39-Reserve UC-wide NRS (https://ucnrs.org/).

The Reserve Director is responsible for leadership and day-to-day operations at the K.S.N. Rancho Marino Reserve which includes all aspects of the administration, organization, planning, managing, operating, maintaining and developing the Reserve as part of the UCSB Natural Reserve System (NRS), which operates within the UCSB Office of Research and the UC‐Wide NRS. The Director reports to the UCSB NRS Executive Director, and interacts regularly with the KNRM Faculty Advisor, the UCSB NRS Director, and the campus NRS Office on issues related to all aspects of Reserve management.

The Reserve Director is resident on site to fully carry out all job aspects. Campus support services are provided, including directly from the UCSB NRS and from various campus departments, for planning and construction, maintenance, security, health and safety, hiring, purchasing, accounting, development, natural resources management, and transportation. Each job aspect is provided by the Reserve Director in accordance with Campus, UC-Wide, and UCSB NRS procedures and policies, and subject to the conditions of the Reserve use-agreement with the (non-UC) landowner of the property.

The successful candidate will be self-sufficient, have a high level of initiative, and have: an earned an advanced degree in environmental science or a related field, experience with field research, excellent problem solving skills, experience in project management, outstanding written and oral communication skills, the ability to engage productively with diverse user groups and stakeholders, excellent organizational skills, a willingness to assume responsibility readily, and the ability to work effectively with minimal supervision. Demonstrated experience in the following areas is required: administration and budget management, staff supervision, facilities and equipment operations and maintenance, land stewardship, resource monitoring, preparation of effective written reports, ability to speak professionally in public including to large groups. Preferred qualifications: experience with operations at a remote field station, 5-7 years' experience in land management or land stewardship, and skills in information technology. On-site residence is required and housing is provided.

Compensation commensurate with experience in the range of $53,200 to $72,000/yr.