California poppies blooming in the Santa Ynez Valley, CA. Photo: AJ MacDonald.
Current openings:
The MacDonald disease ecology lab at UC Santa Barbara is recruiting a postdoctoral scholar to work on a NSF EEID funded project (DEB-2011147) investigating effects of land use change on vector-borne disease. The postdoc will be based at UC Santa Barbara’s Bren School of Environmental Science and Management and primarily work with Dr. Andrew MacDonald in the Bren School, with opportunities for interaction with faculty in disease ecology, earth systems science and data science across the campus. The postdoc will collaborate and interact with other project PI’s based at Stanford University (Dr. Erin Mordecai – Dept. of Biology, Dr. Lisa Mandle – Natural Capital Project, and Dr. Eric Lambin – Earth System Science), and at Universidad Cayetano Heredia in Lima, Peru (Dr. Willy Lescano). The team has extensive experience in vector-borne disease ecology and epidemiology, as well as land systems science and land use and land cover change.
The overall objective of the project is to understand the successional dynamics of vector-borne diseases with changing land use, and their socio-ecological drivers, as well as to generalize beyond system-specific, descriptive case studies to mechanistic understanding and prediction of the consequences of land use decisions for infectious disease. The project is primarily focused on land use change in the Amazon basin and its impact on vector-borne disease, including dengue and other arboviruses, malaria and leishmaniasis.
The larger EEID team is using a combination of mechanistic modeling, remote sensing and earth observation coupled with statistical models, and field surveys and observations in Madre de Dios, Peru to answer questions about land use/cover change impacts on vector-borne disease risk and transmission. The MacDonald lab is primarily employing earth observation and remote sensing data, coupled with vector surveillance and human case reporting data, to model vector-borne disease risk (e.g., species distribution modeling, applying mechanistic models to data) and human disease transmission (e.g., panel data statistical models).
The ideal candidate will have a strong background in computational and statistical approaches in ecology and environmental science, background in GIS and geospatial data, and interest in vector-borne disease ecology and epidemiology.
The University is especially interested in candidates who can contribute to the diversity and excellence of the academic community through research, teaching and service as appropriate to the position.
The position will be for two years with a base salary determined by the UCSB postdoc salary pay scale (set to increase following ongoing negotiations with the UC).
Qualifications: PhD in ecology, environmental science or related discipline at time of position start; strong quantitative and coding skills, and experience working with spatial data and spatial models; strong oral and written communication skills, including track record of peer reviewed publication; ability to work independently and in teams.
If interested, please inquire with Andrew MacDonald (macdonald<at>bren.ucsb.edu), and send a brief cover letter outlining your background, experience and interests, as well as an updated CV with contact info for 3 references.
The overall objective of the project is to understand the successional dynamics of vector-borne diseases with changing land use, and their socio-ecological drivers, as well as to generalize beyond system-specific, descriptive case studies to mechanistic understanding and prediction of the consequences of land use decisions for infectious disease. The project is primarily focused on land use change in the Amazon basin and its impact on vector-borne disease, including dengue and other arboviruses, malaria and leishmaniasis.
The larger EEID team is using a combination of mechanistic modeling, remote sensing and earth observation coupled with statistical models, and field surveys and observations in Madre de Dios, Peru to answer questions about land use/cover change impacts on vector-borne disease risk and transmission. The MacDonald lab is primarily employing earth observation and remote sensing data, coupled with vector surveillance and human case reporting data, to model vector-borne disease risk (e.g., species distribution modeling, applying mechanistic models to data) and human disease transmission (e.g., panel data statistical models).
The ideal candidate will have a strong background in computational and statistical approaches in ecology and environmental science, background in GIS and geospatial data, and interest in vector-borne disease ecology and epidemiology.
The University is especially interested in candidates who can contribute to the diversity and excellence of the academic community through research, teaching and service as appropriate to the position.
The position will be for two years with a base salary determined by the UCSB postdoc salary pay scale (set to increase following ongoing negotiations with the UC).
Qualifications: PhD in ecology, environmental science or related discipline at time of position start; strong quantitative and coding skills, and experience working with spatial data and spatial models; strong oral and written communication skills, including track record of peer reviewed publication; ability to work independently and in teams.
If interested, please inquire with Andrew MacDonald (macdonald<at>bren.ucsb.edu), and send a brief cover letter outlining your background, experience and interests, as well as an updated CV with contact info for 3 references.
General Information for Prospective Students and Postdocs:
Thank you for your interest! Below is some useful information for prospective students, postdocs and specific opportunities in the lab.
Master’s degrees: The Bren School offers professional Master’s degrees in Environmental Science & Management and Environmental Data Science that are course-work and group project based. If you are interested in the Master’s programs, please see here . If you are currently a Bren MESM or MEDS student interested in doing research as an independent study or summer RA, please email me.
Prospective PhD students:
If you are interested in pursuing a PhD at the Bren School, please contact me early (summer, early fall) with your cv and a short description (<1 page) of your research interests, professional goals and why this lab is a good fit. My work is focused broadly on environmental change and its impacts on human health and the ecology of infectious disease; I am seeking to recruit creative students with strong backgrounds in both field and lab-based disease ecology, as well as in computational, GIS, or statistical, data-driven approaches and/or interests.
Funding: I will work diligently to secure funding for PhD research, and I expect students to do the same. With that in mind, to be a strong candidate for my lab requires students apply for the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship (due early October) and/or other funding as relevant to their interests and eligibility (e.g. EPA STAR, NDSEG, NIH, Ford Fellowship). I am happy to work with prospective students to develop a strong proposal, so please email me early.
Postdocs:
If you are interested in working with the MacDonald lab as a postdoc, please email me your CV and brief statement of interests.
Undergraduates:
If you are a UCSB undergraduate interested in gaining research experience in the lab, please email me with information about your academic background, experience conducting research and interests in the lab.
Thanks for your interest and I look forward to hearing from you!
Master’s degrees: The Bren School offers professional Master’s degrees in Environmental Science & Management and Environmental Data Science that are course-work and group project based. If you are interested in the Master’s programs, please see here . If you are currently a Bren MESM or MEDS student interested in doing research as an independent study or summer RA, please email me.
Prospective PhD students:
If you are interested in pursuing a PhD at the Bren School, please contact me early (summer, early fall) with your cv and a short description (<1 page) of your research interests, professional goals and why this lab is a good fit. My work is focused broadly on environmental change and its impacts on human health and the ecology of infectious disease; I am seeking to recruit creative students with strong backgrounds in both field and lab-based disease ecology, as well as in computational, GIS, or statistical, data-driven approaches and/or interests.
Funding: I will work diligently to secure funding for PhD research, and I expect students to do the same. With that in mind, to be a strong candidate for my lab requires students apply for the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship (due early October) and/or other funding as relevant to their interests and eligibility (e.g. EPA STAR, NDSEG, NIH, Ford Fellowship). I am happy to work with prospective students to develop a strong proposal, so please email me early.
Postdocs:
If you are interested in working with the MacDonald lab as a postdoc, please email me your CV and brief statement of interests.
Undergraduates:
If you are a UCSB undergraduate interested in gaining research experience in the lab, please email me with information about your academic background, experience conducting research and interests in the lab.
Thanks for your interest and I look forward to hearing from you!
