The Nature Conservancy’s mission is to protect the lands and waters upon which all life depends. As a science-based organization, we create innovative, on-the-ground solutions to our world’s toughest challenges so that we can create a world in which people and nature thrive. We’re rooted in our Mission and guided by our Values, which includes a Commitment to Diversity and Respect for People, Communities, and Cultures. Whether it’s career development, flexible schedules, or a rewarding mission, there’s lots of reasons to love life #insideTNC. Want a better insight to TNC? Check out our TNC Talent playlist on YouTube or on Glassdoor.
Our goal is to cultivate an inclusive work environment so that all our colleagues around the globe feel a sense of belonging, and that their unique contributions to our mission are valued. We know we’ll only achieve our Mission by hiring and engaging a diverse workforce that reflects the communities in which we work. In addition to the requirements in our postings, we recognize that people come with talent and experiences outside of a job. Diversity of experience and skills combined with passion is a key to innovation and a culture of inclusion! Please apply – we’d love to hear from you. To quote myriad TNC staff members, “you’ll join for our mission, and you’ll stay for our people.”
What We Can Achieve Together:
We are looking for an Ecosystem Resilience Scientist with experience studying climate impacts on ecosystems who can lead in curating, developing, and integrating climate data/projections into our scientific and conservation work across the Conservancy. The ideal candidate will have a track record of research, publication, and application of climate data/projections to studying climate impacts on ecosystems across multiple sectors and geographies. This includes experience using CMIP6 output, as well as regional model simulations and statistically downscaled projections to conduct quantitative analyses across a variety of geographic regions and applications.
The Ecosystem Scientist will bring background and training in relevant areas of quantitative ecological and/or climate adaptation science, with applied experience related to integrating climate data with ecological information. Examples of climate-ecosystem integration could include assessment of historical climate change impacts on ecosystems, including biogeochemical cycles, foodscapes, or species, projection of future changes in ecosystems (and associated carbon storage potential), evaluation of climate adaptation and resilience strategies for ecosystems, or assessment of the impacts of climate-related stressors/disturbances (e.g., warming, fires, pests) on ecosystems. The ideal candidate will have experience studying climate impacts on forests and/or other terrestrial ecosystems and be familiar with established methods and/or emerging AI/machine learning techniques that capture the interaction and complex dynamics of ecosystems and climate, such as feedbacks and disturbances.
The candidate will ideally be able to relate ecological health indicators to climate to identify critical species and/or habitats at risk, pinpointing priority intervention areas or areas that present potential risk to conservation investments in a changing climate. These experiences will be used at TNC to generate new science that will guide conservation, climate mitigation, and climate adaptation strategies. Their work will directly contribute to the TNC Global Science agenda and the One Conservancy Science Plan, which are investing in climate mitigation and adaptation methods, tools, and approaches across the organization to achieve TNC’s 2030 Goals for people and nature.
We’re Looking for You:
Are you looking for work you can believe in? At TNC, we strive to embody a philosophy of Work that You Can Believe in and where you can feel like you are making a difference every day. We’re looking for someone who can serve as a climate impacts technical subject matter resource for diverse conservation initiatives. Communication, managing complex science projects, working with diverse teams, and capacity building are key in this role.
The Ecosystem Scientist will represent the Conservancy as a science leader on multidisciplinary/ multi-partner project teams that require climate inputs for studying ecosystem resilience in a shifting climate for projects related to conservation, adaptation, climate mitigation, and climate resilience. They will ensure that the latest methods, tools, and learning, as well as cutting-edge data, modeling, and analytical approaches, are coordinated and implemented across the Conservancy. The Scientist will lead and support the timely development of peer-reviewed publications that report on these analyses.
The Ecosystem Scientist Responsibilities & Scope include:
- Providing strategic leadership, oversight, and implementation of high-resolution climate data/projections across the Conservancy, particularly as they relate to terrestrial ecosystem resilience under climate change
- Helping to develop trainings for non-specialist internal and external programs and colleagues on best practice and state-of-the-art climate science to support adaptation planning decisions.
- Ensuring that global and field-based projects utilize appropriate climate data/projections to promote climate resilience.
- Fostering internal and external collaborations with TNC business units, universities, and project partners around the world to integrate climate data and projections into diverse planning contexts.
- Supporting managing and writing grants, contracts, or funding proposals.
- Maintaining scientific credibility through applied research, peer-reviewed publications, and communication to diverse audiences.
- Reporting and communicating on project impact to TNC and project partners.
- Possible management of projects and direct reports.
- Being self-motivated in ongoing learning so that skills remain current.
- Working in a complex, matrixed organization environment.
- Being willing to travel between two to seven weeks per year locally, regionally, and internationally as required to meet project and strategy needs. We prioritize virtual engagement but recognize that some projects may require travel.