2023 Summer Field Validation Program

Hiring Organization: University of Wisconsin
Employment type: Seasonal
Job Location: Madison, WI
Application Due Date: April 30, 2023

Members of the Townsend Lab at the Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, UW–Madison, have partnered with researchers at the US Forest Service, Northern Research Station (NRS), on a project to map forest disturbances in the USFS Northeast Region. This effort employs remote sensing of land surface phenology and significant modeling analyses to generate maps of likely forest disturbance areas from severe events (e.g., harvest, fires) to more mild and subtle effects on the forest due to long-term drought, weather-related canopy damage, and defoliation/mortality due to insect and pathogen agents. Provisional map products will be validated by ground observations of forest conditions in candidate disturbance locations, starting with forests of the Upper Great Lakes region (Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan) during the Summer of 2023.

We seek an energetic and highly capable Field Technician as UW–Madison’s contribution to this project during the field validation season. The candidate must be able and willing to work long days (with frequent breaks) in the field, hiking from the nearest road access to point locations, often carrying a pole pruner and a daypack with a sketch mapping tablet computer, clipboard, and reference GPS unit. These items will be provided, including pre-season training on using the tablet software. The candidate should be comfortable planning driving and hiking routes, with or without a research partner. Familiarity with Great Lakes regional mixed forest landscapes is a plus, especially the identification of forest tree species and a compulsion toward closely investigating insects and pathogens (e.g., removal of tree bark, catchand-release of caterpillars/larvae, clipping of branches for evaluating leaf defoliation). The candidate should have good situational awareness, both for safety concerns and for documenting site conditions and evidence of disturbance types. Field condition checklists and guides to disturbance agent identification will be provided, and the Field Technician will contribute to the improvement and refinement of those for wider use.

Significant car travel will be required, and the candidate should be an approved driver with UW– Madison Transportation Services or able to obtain that certification. A UW–Madison fleet vehicle will be provided. The Field Technician may be lodged at Kemp Natural Resources Station (kemp.wisc.edu/) near Rhinelander, WI, during the field validation effort, which may range from several weeks of intensive travel and fieldwork to multiple shorter efforts spaced over the summer months. For the 2023 project field season, we have allocated 10 weeks of full-time (40 h/wk) support for the Field Technician position at $16 per hour. Lodging at Kemp Station, near the middle of our study area, will be covered.

Interested researchers should contact the UW–Madison project technical lead, Dr. Matthew Garcia, at megarcia@wisc.edu with your resume/CV and a brief statement of qualifications. Upper-level undergraduates with field experience, including seniors who will graduate this Spring, are encouraged to apply. Candidate information will be shared with Prof. Philip Townsend in the Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, where additional or alternative opportunities for assignment to other projects and fieldwork may become available.