Senior Forest Ecologist

About The Wilderness Society

The Wilderness Society is a national conservation organization dedicated to protecting America’s wild places since 1935. Our mission is to unite people to protect America’s wild places. Through science, advocacy and partnerships with communities and policymakers, we champion the protection of wilderness, national parks, forests, and other public lands that provide clean air and water, wildlife habitat and the freedom to connect with nature. For more information, visit www.wilderness.org.

Position Overview

Reporting directly to the Senior Director of Science, the Senior Forest Ecologist, coordinates, and conducts forest ecology research that informs and advances the work of The Wilderness Society. We seek a broadly trained forest ecologist with additional expertise in wildfire and/or climate research. The Senior Forest Ecologist ensures ecological research is of the highest quality and informs science-based advocacy across the organization. In addition to internal duties, the Senior Forest Ecologist represents the organization externally as a national leader in forest ecology.

This position plays a critical role in fostering an organizational culture where people feel respected, included, and accountable to shared goals and outcomes. TWS has made it a priority to ensure that our public lands work reflects fairness, representation, and accessibility. This team member will carry those commitments into our science program. Across our team, we aspire to be campaign-oriented, collaborative, innovative, transparent, and supportive of staff – our greatest asset.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities

• Collaborates with program staff to apply forest ecology and wildfire science to campaign strategy and implementation.
• Works with multidisciplinary teams—including law, policy, communications, and advocacy staff—to co-develop research questions and share findings and insights across the organization.
• Produces scientific reports, white papers, peer-reviewed papers, and science and policy briefs needed to inform protection, restoration, and stewardship of public lands.
• Develops science and provides data to inform organizational policy positions.
• Serves as a respected internal and external expert, communicating research, analytical findings, and policy recommendations to government agencies, elected officials, conservation partners, the media, and other audiences.
• Supports the development of funding proposals by contributing research, analysis, and subject matter expertise.
• Manages contracts and other means of augmenting analytical capacity.
• Travels as needed to attend short-duration meetings, give presentations, and visit specific project sites.
• Adheres to and ensures compliance with all TWS policies and procedures (including finance, human resources, and legal), holding staff accountable for adhering to these standards to promote an ethical, compliant, and efficient workplace.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

QUALIFICATIONS

The ideal candidate will possess most or all of the following qualifications:

• Ph.D. in forestry, forest ecology, forest-fire ecology, or related field and at least 7 years of experience initiating and leading complex forest ecology research projects.
• Strong quantitative skills, working knowledge of geospatial concepts and principles, and an established record of exceptional research competence and productivity that includes peer-reviewed publications.
• Well-organized with strong attention to detail and the ability to work independently, manage multiple projects, and make sound scientific judgements with minimal supervision.
• Knowledge of conservation issues on U.S. public lands and how they relate to natural resource management and federal public land policy and a basic understanding of federal environmental laws.
• Experience working in multi-disciplinary teams and with diverse groups in and outside the conservation community.
• Exceptional written and oral communication skills and demonstrated ability to translate complex ecological information into terms that can be understood by a non-scientific audience.
• Ability to think strategically and handle highly complex assignments.
• Demonstrated ability to work independently, think creatively, and write convincingly.
• Passion for and commitment to wildland conservation.
• Ability and willingness to travel domestically when necessary.

The preferred locations for this position are Washington, DC, Denver, CO & Bozeman, MT. Other locations in the following states AK, AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, ID, IL, MD, ME, MI, MN, MT, NC, NM, NV, NY, OH, OR, PA, SC, TN, TX, UT, VA, WA, WI, and WY may be considered. The ​salary range for this position is 92,000-$108,000 depending on location. ​To apply, please submit CV and ​cover ​letter by September 20th.

The Wilderness Society offers a competitive salary and benefits package, including health, dental, vision, life and disability insurance, and pet insurance; sick and vacation leave; a sabbatical program; and a retirement plan with employer contribution subject to certain limits and requirements. TWS is an equal opportunity employer and actively works to ensure fair treatment of our employees and constituents across cultures, socioeconomic statuses, races, marital or family situations, genders, ages, ethnicities, religious beliefs, physical abilities, veteran statuses or sexual orientations.

As an organization, we aspire to being inclusive in the work that we do, and in the kind of organization we are. Internally, this means working as a team that listens to different points of view, recognizes the contributions of every employee and empowers each employee to bring their whole selves to work every day. Externally, this means ensuring that public lands are inclusive and welcoming, so that our shared wildlands can help people and nature to thrive. We are committed to equity throughout our work, which we define as our commitment to realizing the promise of our public lands and ensuring that all can share in their universal benefits.

To learn more about our commitment, please see http://wilderness.org/our-commitment-diversity-equity-and-inclusion-wilderness-society

Pursuant to applicable fair chance laws, TWS will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

TWS complies with federal and state disability laws and is committed to providing reasonable accommodation for individuals with disabilities. If you require accommodation to complete the application process or to perform the essential functions of the position, please contact careers@tws.org. TWS only accepts resumes submitted for positions that are currently open. Unsolicited resumes or resumes for posted positions that are not submitted via the online application process (where applicable), will not be reviewed or retained.