Careers Job Description
General Description
The Research Foundation of the City University of New York (RF CUNY) invites applications for a full-time Research Associate in Dr. Jessica Rothman’s Wildlife Ecology and Nutrition laboratory at Hunter College as part of a NASA funded project entitled “Mega impacts of Megaherbivores: unraveling the role of rhino restoration in fire-savannah dynamics”. The successful candidate will conduct field research and use remote sensing tools to assess the before-and-after eosystem effects related to rhino reintroductions in Zimbabwe, South Africa and Uganda in line with grant activities, as well as use existing data. The position is expected to last for 1 year as per the grant award, but is initially funded for 6 months.
Other Duties
- Use pre-existing field datasets from Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park, South Africa, to examine how rhinos create and maintain grazing lawns along a productivity (rainfall) gradient.
- Map the distribution of grazing lawns using the above datasets to understand the relationship between rhinos and their habitat combining data with remote sensing imagery at different spatial and spectral scales (30 m and 60 m resolution).
- Provide technical and logistical support for field work in Uganda and Zimbabwe, which includes tracking rhino movement and feeding ecology of individual rhinos.
- Use NASA databases including PlantScope/Harmonized Landsat-Sentinel, to link rhino movement and feeding ecology with changes in grass biomass from field collected data in the first year.
- Procure a large database with information on ungulate communities and densities (specifically white rhino) in reserves across South Africa.
- Link the above database on rhino densities across South African reserves with remotely sensed indices of fire intensity and grass-layer heterogeneity.
- Contribute to analyses and manuscript preparation for publication in peer-reviewed journals.
- Other duties as assigned.
Qualifications
- PhD research on large mammal ecology
- At least 2 years of postdoctoral experience conducting large mammal ecological research
- Prior experience using remote sensing techniques
- Prior experience publishing in peer-reviewed journals
RFCUNY Benefits
RFCUNY Employee Benefits and AccrualsAbout the Research Foundation
The Research Foundation of The City University of New York (RFCUNY) is a nonprofit educational corporation founded in 1963 to provide post-award fiscal and administrative support for CUNY’s research and sponsored programs. RFCUNY’s services allow CUNY researchers, faculty, and staff to focus on their intellectual curiosity and scientific discoveries, on projects and programs that serve our local and global communities, proposing concrete solutions to society’s most pressing challenges.
RFCUNY serves as a fiscal agent and works closely with all the CUNY campus Grants Offices to perform the core functions of post-award financial management for CUNY research projects and sponsored programs. These functions include legal assessment and signing of agreements where RFCUNY is named as a fiscal agent; setting up award accounts; preparing sub-awards and assisting PIs in monitoring the work of the recipients of sub-awards; supporting project directors with hiring and managing research project and sponsored program staff; supporting the purchasing and paying for goods and services with grant and program funds; managing financial aspects of projects including accounts receivable, financial reporting, invoicing, budget monitoring, and cost compliance with uniform guidance; ensuring that sponsor financial requirements are met; monitoring compliance with applicable project and financial management rules and laws; supporting the management of independent and external audits and financial reviews; and providing data, information, management expertise, and other supports to CUNY’s research and sponsored programs.
Equal Employment Opportunity Statement
Key Features
Anthropology
Full Time
$90,000.00 - $90,000.00
Oct 10, 2025 (Or Until Filled)