Opportunity Type: Permanent Appointment

Date Posted: 07/12/2021
Post Notice Through: 07/30/2021

See full job and application details at https://fsoutreach.gdcii.com/?id=73DA168482384B8795014C92685DC717 OR

About the position

The USDA Forest Service’s Pacific Northwest Research Station is seeking to hire a Research Social Scientist with a duty station in Juneau, Alaska in the near future. The full performance level of this Research Social Scientist is a GS-0101-13/14. A Ph.D. in one of the social science fields (e.g., anthropology, sociology, geography, political science, rural or community development, human dimensions of natural resources) is required.

The Incumbent will reside in the Station’s Goods, Services and Values Program. The mission of the Program is to conduct and communicate research to advance understanding of relationships among people and forest and rangeland ecosystems. The unit conducts interdisciplinary research in five problem areas:

 1: Improve knowledge of fundamental social and economic processes and their interactions with the natural environment.

 2: Examine the roles of policies, programs, and other institutions in interactions between people and natural resources.

 3: Describe and analyze the implications of changing demographics, socioeconomics, and technology on natural resources and their management.

 4: Describe the capacity of dynamic landscapes to provide for evolving human wants and needs.

 5: Conduct and use integrated multidisciplinary research to support development of management approaches that account for interactions among socioeconomic, ecological, and physical factors.

Program scientists conduct research that is regional (Alaska, Washington, and Oregon), national, and international in scope, and work in partnership with other Forest Service researchers, university scientists, policy makers and managers. The ultimate goal of this research is to improve understanding of the social, cultural, and economic dimensions of forest and rangeland management to inform natural resource management policy and decision-making, and contribute to the scholarly literature about human and natural resource interactions. To achieve this goal, researchers work closely with policymakers, resource managers, tribal officials, Alaska Native organizations, community leaders, and the public to help them understand a variety of options associated with natural resource management and policy decisions, and their implications for people and natural resources. Researchers also work closely with scientists inside and outside the Forest Service and are active participants in university activities and professional associations.

The areas of research focus for the scientist, while broad, will cover areas of particular relevance in Alaska.  Alaska communities are highly dependent on natural resources, and federal and Native Corporation lands predominate.  Changes in land management policy affect local and regional economies, forest products used for subsistence, cultural practices of indigenous peoples, recreation and tourism, and fish and wildlife habitat.  Further, there are complex linkages and interactions between resource management at landscape scales, ecosystem function, and the goods, services, and values that various human communities and institutions derive from natural resources.  Adding complexity are institutional barriers to natural resource management within federal, tribal, and state agencies and Alaska Native communities.

Climate change

Attention to the human dimensions of climate change is critical in this position.  With increases in temperature and changes to precipitation, Alaska communities are facing dramatic changes to the landscapes, traditional harvesting sites, and natural resources on which they depend for their livelihoods or household consumption. These changes are especially felt by Alaska Native communities with longstanding cultural practices that are being altered by broad-scale environmental changes.  The social scientist in this position will need a strong grasp of the ecological effects of climate change, and work with rural communities and Alaska Natives to develop adaptation strategies in response to these changes.

Community resilience

Community resilience is an important area of focus. National forest lands in Alaska make an important contribution to socioeconomic well-being in rural communities.  Policy changes, market conditions, and environmental disturbances over the past few decades have resulted in a transition away from reliance on commodity production on Alaska’s federal lands to a more diversified economy that includes tourism and special forest products. Many rural Alaska communities also wrestle with high energy costs, transportation and distribution bottlenecks that disrupt the supply chain, and infrastructure challenges that make development difficult. For some communities these changes have increased economic vulnerability and reduced community capacity. Others have weathered these changes and restructured their local economies. Social science is needed to better understand the relationships between forest-based communities and national forest management and policy; factors that contribute to the long-term sustainability of rural communities having ties to national forest lands; and the role of forest management in maintaining and increasing community resilience in the context of dynamic social, economic, and environmental change.

Subsistence and food security

Alaskans rely on public lands as a source of food and to engage in subsistence harvest of game, fish, and plant products.  For Alaska Natives, subsistence is also a matter of cultural survival.  Rural Alaskans maintain important social and cultural relations to federal lands, which form an important element of their social and cultural identity by playing a role in family history, social bonding, harvest of culturally-important products, food security, rural livelihoods, and inter-generational exchange.  Changes in policy or in natural resource conditions that affect public access to, or use of, national forests can transform these relationships and result in harmful effects to communities, households, and livelihoods, as well as shifts in place attachments, identity, and rural culture.  Understanding the state of scientific knowledge about subsistence systems and how subsistence is managed and regulated by federal and state agencies is critical for this position.

Recreation and tourism

Tourism is an important part of the rural economy in southeast and southcentral Alaska.  Alaska communities are abundant with natural and cultural amenities of high interest to visitors, many of whom arrive by cruise ship.  The proliferation of outfitters and guides providing nature-based tours throughout the region has implications for subsistence activities and local recreation use.  Tourism provides opportunities for seasonal employment that can augment other income-generating sources. Over-reliance on tourism, however, can signal vulnerability for communities should visitors seek other global destinations or in the face of a pandemic.  Communities need help planning for and managing tourism and understanding how to maximize local benefits from the industry while protecting important cultural and natural resources.

Tribal engagement

Alaska is home to over 200 federally recognized tribes and Native Corporations that represent the economic interests of tribal members.  In the Tongass region, approximately 20 percent of residents are members of Tlingit, Haida, or Tsimshian tribes and in some coastal villages, these rates are much higher.  In the Chugach region, tribes and Native Corporations also play an important role in regional dialogues about resource management and community sustainability.  Awareness of Alaska’s cultural and environmental history and socio-political landscape is essential for the scientist’s success.

Collaborative governance

Understanding what leads to successful collaboration in land and resource management in the context of Alaska, particularly in cooperation with tribes and Alaska Native organizations, is another area of focus.  Working with land managers to develop public engagement strategies for forest and project-level planning is also critical.  Existing collaborative networks in Alaska focus on maintaining a sustainable rate of forest production, enhancing local employment opportunities, incorporating traditional ecological knowledge, and protecting both cultural systems and ecosystems.  A clear understanding of social concerns and dynamics is critical to developing programs and policies that effectively engage the public and account for their concerns.

Research approach 

The research approach involves integrating theory and methods from a number of inter-related social science disciplines, such as anthropology, sociology, geography, political science, community development, and economics.  The research is accomplished independently and on teams formed for specific research studies. In some cases, the scientist will supervise academic specialists, via agreements, who assist the scientist in specifying the research problem, assessing alternative research methodologies, implementing research, analyzing data, and publishing and presenting findings.  The scientist employs a range of qualitative and quantitative approaches to conducting research. These approaches may include surveys, ethnographic approaches, qualitative interviews, focus groups, cognitive approaches, statistical analysis, quantitative modeling, and rural participatory research methods.  The scientist is expected to take a lead role in establishing a research agenda, developing critical partnerships, and implementing a social science research program that is responsive to the needs of natural resource agencies and institutions in Alaska.  The scientist is responsible for final decisions on appropriate research topics and approach, data analysis, developing research products, and reporting findings to scientists, managers and citizens.

Duty Station

The duty station for this position is the Forestry Sciences Laboratory located in Juneau, Alaska. The laboratory currently houses researchers and support personnel from three different research programs within the Pacific Northwest Research Station. Researchers primarily focus on topics relevant to the management of coastal and interior Alaska forest ecosystems, including climate change, soils, hydrology and fisheries research, landscape and vegetation ecology, and wildlife biology.  The lab also hosts the University of Alaska’s Alaska Coastal Rainforest Center, and a forest entomologist and a pathologist from the State and Private Forestry branch of the Forest Service. It sits next to the University of Alaska.  Research is frequently conducted in cooperation with the Tongass and Chugach National Forests, the State government, as well as Alaska Native organizations.

We are looking for an individual who:

• Is interested in conducting research to help inform forest management and policy
• Has in-depth experience with empirical/qualitative/quantitative social science research methods
• Has an interest and ability to work well with diverse groups of people from a variety of disciplines
• Has a demonstrated ability to publish in peer-reviewed journals, obtain external funding, and communicate effectively with diverse audiences
• Has a high degree of independence and initiative to develop, direct, and engage in the full cycle of science production
• Has experience working with indigenous communities or tribes and an interest in integrating different knowledge systems
• Works well on collaborative or interdisciplinary teams and enjoys working with others to accomplish a common goal
• Can navigate in a complex socio-political landscape and be able to develop partnerships and work collaboratively with multiple agencies and organizations at various levels of governance
• Is committed to living in Alaska and engaging in Alaska-relevant issues and research.

IF YOU’RE INTERESTED…

The purpose of this Outreach Notice is to determine the potential applicant pool for this position.  Responses received from this outreach notice will be used to make this determination.  We will automatically send the position announcement when it opens to those who respond to this Outreach Notice.

Interested applicants should complete the attached form and send it, along with a copy of your CV, to Simon Kihia at  simon.kihia@usda.gov by July 30th , 2021.  Those desiring further information about  the position may inquire via this email address.  

About the Pacific Northwest Research Station

The PNW Research Station is one of seven research units in the USDA Forest Service’s Research and Development Branch.  The USDA Forest Service conducts the most extensive and productive program of integrated forestry research in the world.  The scientific information produced by the Station has application on public, private, and tribal lands in the Pacific Northwest (Alaska, Oregon and Washington) and elsewhere in the United States and other parts of the world. The Station’s programs reflect the changing character of the questions that science is being asked to help answer.

The PNW Research Station has approximately 250 permanent and temporary employees in professional, administrative, research, technical, and clerical positions.  There are five Program Managers that oversee research program organizations, and nine laboratories that provide research.  The laboratories are located in Oregon, Washington, and Alaska. The Station is also involved in international work with foreign governments, agencies and universities in many research areas.  The research activities of the Station attract considerable interest from Congress, special interest groups, and the public.  The Station Director’s Office is located in downtown Portland, OR.

Community Information:

About Juneau, AK: https://beta.juneau.org/

To be considered, applicants must be U.S. citizens.

Thank you for your interest in this position

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, and where applicable, sex, marital status, familial status, parental status, religion, sexual orientation, genetic information, political beliefs, reprisal, or because all or part of an individual’s income is derived from any public assistance program.  (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.)  Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for communication of program information (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact USDA’s TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TDD).  To file a complaint of discrimination, write USDA, Director, Office of civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20250-9410, or call (800) 795-3272 (voice) or (202) 720-6382 (TDD).