Job Title
Postdoctoral Research AssociateAgency
Texas A&M Agrilife ResearchDepartment
Rangeland, Wildlife & Fisheries ManagementProposed Minimum Salary
$4,583.34 monthlyJob Location
College Station, TexasJob Type
StaffJob Description
About Texas A&M AgriLife
Texas A&M AgriLife is comprised of the following Texas A&M University System members:
As the nation’s largest most comprehensive agriculture program, Texas A&M AgriLife brings together a college and four state agencies focused on agriculture and life sciences within The Texas A&M University System. With over 5,000 employees and a presence in every county across the state, Texas A&M AgriLife is uniquely positioned to improve lives, environments and the Texas economy through education, research, extension and service.
Click here to learn more about how you can be a part of AgriLife and make a difference in the world!
Position Information
Position Summary
The Postdoctoral Research Associate will contribute to an integrated research and extension project focused on improving the flood resilience of private working lands in the Texas Hill Country (TxHC). This project responds to the widespread impacts of the July 4th, 2025 flood event by developing science‑based tools, spatial analyses, and community‑driven strategies that support long‑term resilience planning in a rapidly changing landscape. The postdoctoral researcher will join a multidisciplinary team with expertise in human dimensions of natural resources, private land management, governance and policy, spatial ecology, and community engagement.
Essential Duties of Job:
Research (Primary Role)
Develop and implement a spatially explicit methodology for characterizing and prioritizing private working lands based on flood mitigation potential and land‑conversion risk.
Support creation of a TxHC‑wide value–risk prioritization map to guide conservation investments.
Design, administer, and analyze a landowner survey grounded in Protection Motivation Theory and participatory GIS (PPGIS) to assess landowner perceptions, values, and willingness to engage in conservation programs.
Key role in ensuring that recovery from the July 4th floods supports long‑term resilience by helping stakeholders identify and protect high‑value, high‑risk lands critical for buffering rural communities from flood hazards.
Extension & Outreach (Secondary Role)
Support facilitation of community workshops with landowners, conservation partners, and local decision‑makers to co‑produce knowledge and identify conservation pathways.
Contribute to the development of a decision‑support toolkit, including interactive maps, a dichotomous key for land evaluation, success‑story dashboards, and decision‑pathway tools for conservation opportunities.
Assist in delivering train‑the‑trainer workshops for conservation leaders using toolkit resources and project findings.
Required Qualifications:
Ph.D. in natural resources, geography, ecology, environmental science, agricultural economics, or a closely related field.
Experience with survey design methodologies and software.
Strong quantitative and mixed‑methods skills.
Excellent written and oral communication skills.
Preferred Qualifications:
Experience with ecosystem services modeling or flood‑risk assessment.
Familiarity with rural or private landowner engagement, survey design, or community‑based research.
Knowledge of conservation easements, open‑space valuation, or land‑stewardship programs relevant to Texas working lands.
Experience collaborating with multi‑stakeholder teams (e.g., land trusts, Extension, state agencies).
Position Context & Impact
Texas private working lands face accelerating conversion pressures driven by population growth, rising land values, and generational land transitions. These pressures threaten the ecosystem services—especially flood mitigation—provided by grasslands, rangelands, and agricultural lands across the 22‑county TxHC region.
The postdoctoral associate will play a key role in ensuring that recovery from the July 4th floods supports long‑term resilience by helping stakeholders identify and protect high‑value, high‑risk lands critical for buffering rural communities from flood hazards.
Appointment Details
Why Work at Texas A&M AgriLife?
When you choose to work for Texas A&M AgriLife, you become part of an organization that is an established leader in agriculture and life sciences with a wide range of capabilities to meet the needs of our statewide, national, and international constituents.
In addition, Texas A&M AgriLife offers a comprehensive benefit package including the following:
Health, dental, vision, life and long-term disability insurance with Texas A&M AgriLife contributing to employee health and basic life premiums
12-15 days of annual paid holidays
Up to eight hours of paid sick leave and at least eight hours of paid vacation each month
Automatic enrollment in the Teacher Retirement System of Texas
Employee Wellness Initiative for Texas A&M AgriLife
Applicant Instructions
Applications received by Texas A&M AgriLife must either have all job application data entered or a resume attached. Failure to provide all job application data or a complete resume could result in an invalid submission and a rejected application. We encourage all applicants to upload a resume or use a LinkedIn profile to prepopulate the online application.
Required Documents
All positions are security-sensitive. Applicants are subject to a criminal history investigation, and employment is contingent upon the institution’s verification of credentials and/or other information required by the institution’s procedures, including the completion of the criminal history check.
Equal Opportunity/Veterans/Disability Employer.