Our transdisciplinary research team is seeking several post-doctoral researchers and PhD students that are skilled in biological data analysis, computer programming, and mathematical modeling. Our research team has been conducting coordinated, targeted surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 and Chronic Wasting Disease in deer across 12 study sites in the USA. Data being collected include GPS location data, longitudinally replicated animal-level physiological data, and a variety of SARS-CoV-2 and CWD diagnostics. Funding for positions is available now. We are looking for motivated analysts with complementary skills to work collaboratively towards the research program’s objectives. Overarching program objectives include:
Surveillance Program
- Implement a surveillance system to quantify mechanisms of disease emergence in new host species.
- Identify effective surveillance designs for early detection of disease emergence and persistence at the wildlife-human interface.
- Identify effective strategies for rapid surveillance program deployment in response to detection of a new disease.
We are particularly excited about recruiting individuals with strong interests in interdisciplinary disease ecology and specific skills in at least one related research area, such as epidemiological modeling, movement ecology, statistical inference, phylodynamics or geography, or machine learning. The task of these new team members will be to develop, refine, and implement methods to analyze data emerging from the surveillance program.
Candidates will be housed at one of our team institutions, and will interface with the national group through biweekly all-hands meetings and more frequent in-depth discussions (including, for example, a topics lab exploring emerging techniques at the movement-disease interface). We will foster collaborative relationships between the post-docs and affiliated faculty through team retreats, co-led papers, and a strong collaborative culture.
Team institutions – PI (email):
USDA-APHIS – Kim Pepin (kim.m.pepin@usda.gov)
Utah State University – Kezia Manlove (kezia.manlove@usu.edu)
Colorado State University – George Wittemyer (g.wittemyer@colostate.edu)
Columbia University – Maria Diuk-Wasser (mad2256@columbia.edu)
USGS-Penn State – W. David Walter (wdw12@psu.edu)
Southern Illinois University – Guillaume Bastille-Rousseau (gbr@siu.edu)
University of Minnesota – Meggan Craft (craft@umn.edu)
University of Tennessee – Mark Wilber (mwilber@utk.edu)
Interested parties should contact Kezia Manlove or Kim Pepin with a CV at Kezia.manlove@usu.edu or kim.m.pepin@usda.gov.
