USDA-FS Bioacoustics Laboratory Postdoctoral Fellowship

*Applications will be reviewed on a rolling-basis.

USDA Forest Service Office/Lab and Location: A fellowship opportunity is available with the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service (FS) within the Pacific Northwest Research Station (PNWRS) located at the Corvallis Forestry Sciences Laboratory that sits on Oregon State University Campus, Corvallis, Oregon.

At the heart of the USDA Forest Service's mission is their purpose. Everything they do is intended to help sustain forests and grasslands for present and future generations. Why? Because their stewardship work supports nature in sustaining life. This is the purpose that drives the agency’s mission and motivates their work across the agency. It’s been there from the agency’s very beginning, and it still drives them. To advance the mission and serve their purpose, the USDA Forest Service balances the short and long-term needs of people and nature by: working in collaboration with communities and our partners; providing access to resources and experiences that promote economic, ecological, and social vitality; connecting people to the land and one another; and delivering world-class science, technology and land management.

Research Project: This postdoctoral fellowship will provide experiences to advance research by offering training to improve wildlife monitoring and land stewardship decision-making across fire-affected forests in the Pacific Northwest. By modernizing our wildlife monitoring approach and embedding decision-support tools into project planning, the participant will help contribute to the delivery of legally defensible, science-based restoration and vegetation management projects. Options will include development of artificial intelligence-based decision support tools that integrate species occurrence data with fuels, topography, fire history, and weather information. These tools could be used to inform project-level planning for fuel reduction, timber harvest, and post-fire recovery, enabling more efficient and legally defensible active stewardship. The fellow will be mentored by a Forest Service scientist to ensure tools are operationally relevant and scalable to other fire-prone regions. Together, these efforts will enhance ecological resilience and accelerate science-based management across more than 20 million acres of federally managed lands. The fellow will have given opportunity to contribute to the dissemination of these tools through technical documentation, maps, guidance materials to support tool adoption across other fire-prone public lands and publish peer-reviewed publications. 

Learning Objectives: During this appointment, the participant will have the opportunity to:

• Develop advanced skills in wildlife bioacoustics, machine learning, and ecological data integration by handling large-scale species occurrence datasets, fuels and vegetation layers, fire history data, and topographic or weather information.
• Gain experience designing, building, and evaluating artificial intelligence–based decision-support tools that support project-level planning for fuel reduction, timber harvest, and post-fire recovery in fire-affected forests.
• Learn to collaborate closely with federal scientists, land managers, and interdisciplinary teams to ensure that monitoring approaches and decision-support products are operationally relevant, legally defensible, and scalable to other fire-prone landscapes.
• Acquire expertise in modernizing wildlife monitoring systems using automated or AI-based techniques to improve efficiency, reproducibility, and ecological insight across Forest Service lands.
• Strengthen technical communication skills by preparing documentation, maps, protocols, and training materials that support tool adoption across agencies and partner organizations.
• Gain experience presenting research outcomes to scientific, management, and public audiences, and contribute to peer-reviewed publications and scientific conferences.
• Develop professional skills related to the full research cycle, interdisciplinary teamwork, stakeholder engagement, and the integration of science into land management decisions.

Mentor: The mentor for this opportunity is Damon Lesmeister (damon.lesmeister@usda.gov). If you have questions about the nature of the research, please contact the mentors.

Anticipated Appointment Start Date: April 2026.  Start date is flexible and will depend on a variety of factors.

Appointment Length: The appointment will initially be for one year but may be extended upon recommendation of USDA Forest Service and is contingent on the availability of funds.

Level of Participation: The opportunity is full time. 

Participant Stipend: The participant will receive a monthly stipend commensurate with educational level and experience. The anticipated stipend range is $5,800 - $6,000 monthly.

Citizenship Requirements: This opportunity is available to U.S. citizens, Lawful Permanent Residents (LPR), and foreign nationals. Non-U.S. citizen applicants should refer to the Guidelines for Non-U.S. Citizens Details page of the program website for information about the valid immigration statuses that are acceptable for program participation. Foreign national candidates may have a mandatory in-person requirement depending on visa status.

ORISE Information: This program, administered by ORAU through its contract with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to manage the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE), was established through an interagency agreement between DOE and USDA Forest Service. Participants do not become employees of USDA, USDA Forest Service, DOE or the program administrator, and there are no employment-related benefits. Proof of health insurance is required for participation in this program. Health insurance can be obtained through ORISE.

Questions: Please visit our Program Website. After reading, if you have additional questions about the application process please email ORISE.USFS.PNWRS@orau.org and include the reference code for this opportunity.

Qualifications

The qualified candidate should be currently pursuing or have received a doctoral degree in the one of the relevant field. Degree must have been received within the past five years or is anticipated to be received by 6/30/2026.

Stipend

$5,800.00 – $6,000.00 Monthly

Point of Contact

Michele

Eligibility Requirements

• Degree: Doctoral Degree received within the last 60 months or currently pursuing.