Postdoctoral Research Associate

Job TitlePostdoctoral Research Associate Agency Texas A&M Agrilife Research Department Rangeland, Wildlife & Fisheries Management Proposed Minimum Salary$4,583.34 monthly Job LocationCollege Station, Texas Job TypeStaff Job Description About Texas A&M AgriLife Texas A&M AgriLife is comprised of the following Texas A&M University System members: Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service Texas A&M AgriLife Research College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Texas A&M University Texas A&M Forest Service Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory As the nations largest most comprehensive agriculture program, Texas A&M AgriLife brings together a college and four state agencies focused on agriculture and life sciences within The Texas A&M University System. With over 5,000 employees and a presence in every county across the state, Texas A&M AgriLife is uniquely positioned to improve lives, environments and the Texas economy through education, research, extension and service. Click here to learn more about how you can be a part of AgriLife and make a difference in the world! Position Information Position Summary The Postdoctoral Research Associate will contribute to an integrated research and extension project focused on improving the flood resilience of private working lands in the Texas Hill Country (TxHC). This project responds to the widespread impacts of the July 4th, 2025 flood event by developing sciencebased tools, spatial analyses, and communitydriven strategies that support longterm resilience planning in a rapidly changing landscape. The postdoctoral researcher will join a multidisciplinary team with expertise in human dimensions of natural resources, private land management, governance and policy, spatial ecology, and community engagement. Essential Duties of Job: Research (Primary Role) Develop and implement a spatially explicit methodology for characterizing and prioritizing private working lands based on flood mitigation potential and landconversion risk. Support creation of a TxHCwide valuerisk prioritization map to guide conservation investments. Design, administer, and analyze a landowner survey grounded in Protection Motivation Theory and participatory GIS (PPGIS) to assess landowner perceptions, values, and willingness to engage in conservation programs. Key role in ensuring that recovery from the July 4th floods supports longterm resilience by helping stakeholders identify and protect highvalue, highrisk lands critical for buffering rural communities from flood hazards. Extension & Outreach (Secondary Role) Support facilitation of community workshops with landowners, conservation partners, and local decisionmakers to coproduce knowledge and identify conservation pathways. Contribute to the development of a decisionsupport toolkit, including interactive maps, a dichotomous key for land evaluation, successstory dashboards, and decisionpathway tools for conservation opportunities. Assist in delivering trainthetrainer workshops for conservation leaders using toolkit resources and project findings. Required Qualifications: Ph.D. in natural resources, geography, ecology, environmental science, agricultural economics, or a closely related field. Experience with survey design methodologies and software. Strong quantitative and mixedmethods skills. Excellent written and oral communication skills. Preferred Qualifications: Experience with ecosystem services modeling or floodrisk assessment. Familiarity with rural or private landowner engagement, survey design, or communitybased research. Knowledge of conservation easements, openspace valuation, or landstewardship programs relevant to Texas working lands. Experience collaborating with multistakeholder teams (e.g., land trusts, Extension, state agencies). Position Context & Impact Texas private working lands face accelerating conversion pressures driven by population growth, rising land values, and generational land transitions. These pressures threaten the ecosystem servicesespecially flood mitigationprovided by grasslands, rangelands, and agricultural lands across the 22county TxHC region. The postdoctoral associate will play a key role in ensuring that recovery from the July 4th floods supports longterm resilience by helping stakeholders identify and protect highvalue, highrisk lands critical for buffering rural communities from flood hazards. Appointment Details Location: Texas A&M University, College Station, TX Appointment: 12month, renewable based on performance and funding Salary: Competitive and commensurate based on selected candidate's qualifications Start Date: May 1st, 2026 Position Funding: This position is grant funded and availability is contingent on grant funding. Why Work at Texas A&M AgriLife? When you choose to work for Texas A&M AgriLife, you become part of an organization that is an established leader in agriculture and life sciences with a wide range of capabilities to meet the needs of our statewide, national, and international constituents. In addition, Texas A&M AgriLife offers a comprehensive benefit package including the following: Health, dental, vision, life and long-term disability insurance with Texas A&M AgriLife contributing to employee health and basic life premiums 12-15 days of annual paid holidays Up to eight hours of paid sick leaveand at leasteight hours of paid vacation each month Automatic enrollment in theTeacher Retirement System of Texas Employee Wellness Initiative for Texas A&M AgriLife Applicant Instructions Applications received by Texas A&M AgriLife must either have all job application data entered or a resume attached. Failure to provide all job application data or a complete resume could result in an invalid submission and a rejected application. We encourage all applicants to upload a resume or use a LinkedIn profile to prepopulate the online application. Required Documents CV/ Resume Cover letter List of references Certifications/ additional documentation All positions are security-sensitive. Applicants are subject to a criminal history investigation, and employment is contingent upon the institutions verification of credentials and/or other information required by the institutions procedures, including the completion of the criminal history check. Equal Opportunity/Veterans/Disability Employer. As the largest comprehensive agriculture and life sciences program nationally, Texas A&M AgriLife brings together a college and four state agencies within the Texas A&M University System With over 5,000 employees, and a presence in every county across the state, Texas A&M AgriLife is uniquely positioned to improve lives, the environment, and the economy of Texas and the nation through education, research, extension and service. If your goal is the pursuit of excellence and your vision is to make a difference in this world, we invite you to explore our opportunities to discover what a career at Texas A&M AgriLife has to offer you. Texas A&M AgriLife is comprised of the following Texas A&M University System members: Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service Texas A&M AgriLife Research College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Texas A&M University Texas A&M Forest Service Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory Texas A&M AgriLife collaborates with Prairie View A&M University, Tarleton State University, Texas A&M University-Commerce, Texas A&M University-Kingsville and West Texas A&M University as well as with other public and private partners. Prospective employee benefits Retirement programs Commitment to inclusive excellence Strategic plan