The Wisconsin Sea Grant College Program (housed at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Aquatic Sciences Center) and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) Office of Great Waters Program seek postdoctoral and post-Master’s candidates interested in tackling science and policy challenges related to water resources and climate change in Wisconsin and the Great Lakes region. Together, these programs will fund this state Science-Policy Fellow position, named in honor of a longtime Sea Grant coastal engineering expert J Phillip Keillor, to celebrate his legacy in providing science to help build resilience in Wisconsin. This Fellow position will provide a unique educational and career opportunity for a recent graduate interested both in aquatic resources and in the policy decisions affecting those resources in Wisconsin. This program places a recent master’s or doctoral graduate within a state agency full-time for one year, with the Fellow bringing technical skills to benefit Great Lakes water and climate change issues while receiving valuable real-world science-policy experience from the resource professionals who will serve as mentors. These mutually beneficial partnerships will result in advancing science to support policy decisions as well as valuable training opportunities for new professionals entering the work force.
The Fellow will work closely with WDNR staff and work groups, other state and federal agencies, and researchers from a variety of fields to tackle the important challenge of connecting science related to climate change with natural resource managers. The fellowship mentor team will include Dr. Madeline Magee, Cherie Hagen, and Steve Galarneau (WDNR Office of Great Waters) and Drs. Adam Bechle, Titus Seilheimer, and Jennifer Hauxwell (Wisconsin Sea Grant).
There is significant flexibility in the specific questions and approaches that the Fellow will tackle and employ, and we seek applicants from a variety of backgrounds including engineering, social sciences, water resources, ecological modeling, limnology, etc. Specific priorities for this position are:
· Evaluate condition and resiliency of Wisconsin’s coastal wetlands and identify which wetlands are resilient to climate changes and may be priorities for restoration and/or protection.
· Synthesize current climate change impacts and adaptation strategies for Wisconsin’s Great Lakes and lead writing of the Wisconsin Initiative on Climate Change Impacts Great Lakes Working Group assessment report.
· Work with federal, state, and academic partners to contribute to development of the Great Lakes Coastal Adaptation Menu
· Support the WICCI Great Lakes Working Group on the Lake Superior basin climate needs assessment.
This Fellow is intended to be stationed in downtown Madison at the WDNR, and will work with researchers from across the state, region and country, as well as stakeholders and policy-makers in Wisconsin. The position requires occasional travel, including overnight stays.
Work arrangements may need to be flexible and may evolve amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, adhering to all University of Wisconsin-Madison and state directives and guidance.
More detail on the fellowship is attached and here - https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/
If you have any questions, please contact:
Dr. Jennifer Hauxwell at jennifer.hauxwell@aqua.wisc.
Dr. Madeline Magee at madeline.magee@wisconsin.gov