Biogeography

The Cultural and Environmental Resource Management (CERM) Master's Program at Central Washington University and the US Forest Service are seeking a master's student interested in natural resources and wildfire. This is a 2-year graduate assistantship appointment, which includes a maximum allowable tuition waiver and 9-month salary for academic years 2023-24 and 2024-25. Apply by February 1, 2023, for priority consideration.

The project involves investigating the weather conditions that contribute to the largest wildfires (Fires of Unusual Size, FOUS), and the large-growth days on those fires. It seeks to understand how the weather conditions during these large fires and large-growth days differ from the weather conditions on other, less extreme fires. Previous work has shown that overall weather conditions on the FOUS are more moderate, but individual days of more fire-conducive weather drive the fires' exceptional growth. The student for this project will use spatial and temporal analysis techniques to look at weather patterns in space and time as associated with these fires and events.

Central Washington University is located in Ellensburg, WA, on the east side of the Cascade Mountains. It is in the heart of the wildfire region of Washington State. The student selected for this project will be enrolled at CWU in the CERM Master's Program. The student selected must be in residence in Ellensburg and will work closely with faculty at CWU and research meteorologists from the US Forest Service's Pacific Wildland Fire Sciences Laboratory in Seattle. The expectation is that the student will develop a master's thesis based on this work, ideally leading to co-authored, peer-reviewed publications.

Student qualifications:

Required:

Undergraduate degree in physical sciences (e.g., meteorology, geology, physical geography, physical environmental sciences)

Differential and integral calculus coursework

Statistics coursework

Must have experience in at least one: GIS or time series analysis or spatial composite analysis

Preferred/Desirable:

Basic meteorology knowledge

Experience with scripting and/or a computer language (linux, C++, python, FORTRAN)

Interest in natural resource management

Experience with large data sets (> 1 GB)

Operational experience with wildland fire

Operational experience in meteorology/weather forecasting

Application Instructions:

Interested individuals should contact the project leads, Megan Walsh ([log in to unmask]) and Brian Potter ([log in to unmask]) for more information. To apply, submit a 1-page letter of interest and resume to the project leads. After communicating with the project leads, interested individuals must complete the CWU graduate admission and assistantship applications (see www.cwu.edu/masters/prospective-cwu-graduate-students).

Information about the CERM program is available at: www.cwu.edu/resource-management/...

CWU is an EEO/AA/Title IX/Veteran/Disability Employer.