Jobs and Careers

• Lead wildlife-tech research to protect forests using drones, AI, and spatial ecology
• A dynamic role open to flexible working arrangement including job share
• Full-time or fractional appointment negotiable; four-year fixed-term position based in Hobart

About the opportunity

The Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Wildlife and Spatial Ecology will have expertise in Spatial Ecology to lead a Forest and Wood Products Australia funded project on proactive surveillance and mitigation of wallaby browsing in softwood plantations. The Postdoctoral Research Fellow will design and execute a project to understand how and why wallabies, and other non-focus animal species, spatially and temporally use young softwood plantations in a heterogenous production forestry landscape and how this relates to damage to trees. The project will better understand management practices on population dynamics of wallabies and will also test and develop an optimal (efficient, cost effective, easy to use) technological operational method for detecting and estimating wallaby populations and dynamics. 

What you’ll do:

• Develop a technological operational method for detecting and estimating wallaby population dynamics.
• Provide operational knowledge of where, when and why macropod browsing occurs in softwood plantations and co-designed procedures to better target control measures proactively before damage occurs.
• Provide operational knowledge of where and when other non-target native and non-native species use mature and establishing plantations, providing quality biodiversity estimates for companies.
• Liaise with industry partners to co‑develop monitoring tools, present interim findings, and refine deliverables to meet operational requirements.
• Engage continuously with plantation company stakeholders to align research activities with on‑ground practices.­

What we’re looking for:

• Expertise in thermal and RGB drone operations, including orthomosaic generation.
• Proficiency in deploying and managing wildlife camera‑trap networks and processing large image datasets.
• Experience developing and validating machine‑learning and AI models for image object detection and classification.
• Strong background in experimental design, statistical sampling and analysis in field settings.
• Skilled in GNSS‑based geolocation, GIS software (e.g. QGIS, ArcGIS) and programming (Python, R).

Salary details

Appointment to this role will be at Academic Level A and will have a total remuneration package of up to $125,877 comprising base salary within the range of $83,198 to $107,587 plus 17% superannuation.

How to Apply

• To apply online, please provide the following supporting documentation:
  • Resume
  • Cover letter outlining your suitability and motivation for the role
  • Your responses to the success criteria from the Position Description below
• For further information about this position, please contact Julianne O'Reilly-Wapstra, Dean of School, Natural Sciences and Professor, Julianne.OReilly@utas.edu.au
• Please visit https://www.utas.edu.au/jobs/applying for our guide to applying and details on the recruitment process.
• Please refer to the attached Position Description Below for full details.

 Position Description - 501140 - Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Wildlife and Spatial Ecology.pdf

Applications close Sunday, 20 July 2025, 11.55pm

To be eligible for this position, you are required to have Australian citizenship, permanent residence or a current valid visa that allows you to fulfil the requirements of this role.