Research Opportunity Description
Drought is a well-known threat to ecosystems and intensifying in its effects across the globe. In the western United States, persistent drought is threatening the condition of public lands and potentially changing how managers address both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Although many tools exist for assessing meteorological, hydrologic, and ecological impacts of drought, there is a need to further develop actionable approaches and tools for addressing the social context within which these forms of drought affect natural resources and the people who depend upon them. This reflects increasing recognition that the health of ecosystems, and particularly the condition of watersheds, is affected by a range of human actions and that the success of restoration activities depends upon a range of social, economic, and process constraints.
This Mendenhall Fellowship Opportunity seeks social science research proposals from candidates interested in conducting research as part of a larger interdisciplinary, interagency effort. The larger project is focused on helping the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) understand watershed condition across the approximately 245 million acres it manages. Specifically, a team of ecologists and hydrologists are developing and operationalizing indicators for ecological drought that can be used by field-level BLM managers. The larger project is a national priority for both USGS and BLM.
This Research Opportunity offers candidates the chance to define and co-lead the social science component of this project in conjunction with the Research Advisors. We seek proposals for actionable research to be conducted in partnership with BLM (at the field-level, state-level, national-level, or some combination). Successful proposals will describe research that simultaneously meets real-world needs of the agency to assess the social dimensions of watershed condition and advances social science theory and/or methods.
Research proposals should describe the subset(s) of the social system to focus on with rationale and theoretical foundation, a method for developing social indicators, where and how the candidate proposes to test indicators in one or more watersheds that BLM manages, and a plan to integrate social indicators with hydrological and ecological indicators and more conventional drought assessments. Proposals should also describe a plan for working with agency partners to maintain a common vision for the research throughout the study and ideas about scaling the proposed approach and assessing how it might generalize across states or larger BLM regions. Topics of focus for indicator development might include (but are not limited to) characteristics of surrounding communities and/or public land users, procedural justice, drought planning or administrative frameworks that BLM managers work within, economic feasibility of drought preparedness or response actions, and public or stakeholder views about possible actions.
Interested applicants are strongly encouraged to contact the Research Advisor(s) early in the application process to discuss project ideas. Applicants should note that federal research must comply with the Paperwork Reduction Act (https://pra.digital.gov/) and they will need to consider this in their proposed study design and timeline.
Proposed Duty Station(s)
Anywhere in the U.S.
Areas of PhD
Natural resource management, political science, sociology, human geography, planning, public administration, or related fields (candidates holding a Ph.D. in other disciplines, but with extensive knowledge and skills relevant to the Research Opportunity may be considered). Candidates should have demonstrated experience doing research with community or agency partners (i.e., using actionable, coproduced, or similar approaches)
Qualifications
Applicants must meet one of the following qualifications: Research Social Scientist, Research Sociologist, or Research Geographer.
(This type of research is performed by those who have backgrounds for the occupations stated above. However, other titles may be applicable depending on the applicant's background, education, and research proposal. The final classification of the position will be made by the Human Resources specialist.)
