Applied Landscape Ecologist

All applications should be emailed to View email address on click.appcast.io. Applications submitted through LinkedIn or Indeed will not be reviewed. Overview The Santa Barbara County Fire Safe Council (SBCFSC) is a 501(c)(3) non‑profit organization with a mission to unify public and private organizations in Santa Barbara County to educate, motivate, and coordinate to minimize negative impacts associated with future wildfires. Members of the Board include current and past firefighting professionals, representatives of local government, and citizen representatives from various local communities. The Board holds monthly meetings to provide relevant information to local citizens and to offer a platform for community members to become active participants in the solutions to the challenges fire poses to our wildland urban areas. The SBCFSC is funded through donations and grants, using these funds to increase wildfire preparedness through education, planning, and mitigation projects. Recent projects include the Lompoc Valley Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP), Firewise USA®, Community Chipping, prescribed grazing, educational videos, and Wildfire Preparedness Expositions. Position Responsibilities Strategic Planning: Conduct geospatial analysis to determine environmental and land‑use policy suitability of landscape risk reduction strategies, prioritize communities and critical infrastructure, coordinate with Santa Barbara County to build on existing agricultural geospatial mapping, and partner with Santa Barbara County Fire for prescribed fire suitability/feasibility analysis. Project Planning: Actively seek and coordinate with partners and SBCFSC staff to identify locations for landscape risk reduction strategies, coordinate with landowners on a project plan, incorporate scientific best practices and a multi‑benefit climate resilience approach, and incorporate manageable scientific research into projects to inform future mitigation. Applied Research with Stakeholders: Work with partners to incorporate research into their current and proposed projects, seek opportunities to incorporate research into SBCFSC projects, and assist with project monitoring. Publication and Conferences: While publication is not the main objective, the candidate may write and publish scientific articles/reports and attend conferences to share results and SBCFSC projects. Funding Support: Seek funding through grants, contracts, or fundraising to continue implementation, maintenance, monitoring of current and additional fuel buffers and other landscape‑based projects. GIS and Spatial Analysis: Lead GIS staff responsibilities, develop a public Project Tracker that maps fuels projects to communicate progress to community and stakeholders, and conduct spatial analyses to support all SBCFSC planning and prioritization efforts. Staff and Volunteer Oversight: Provide direct oversight to staff, interns, and volunteers, mentor and manage interns and volunteers, and assist with project implementation, maintenance, and monitoring. Relationship Cultivation: Expand monitoring and maintenance capacity through volunteers or partnerships, sit on working groups and committees, engage with the public and potential donors, and represent SBCFSC values. Field Work: Implement restoration and research projects, including weed control, planting, mapping, and monitoring; collect spatial data using Field Maps for ArcGIS, Avenza, etc. Outreach and Education: Develop outreach materials (newsletter articles, web updates, videos, press releases, social media), represent SBCFSC conservation program, build strong relationships with conservation partners, and share passion for conservation with the public through lectures, workshops, nature walks, field trips, and other outreach events. Minimum Qualifications This position is offered at the principal investigator level and requires a PhD in Conservation, Restoration, Environmental Science, Ecology, Fire Ecology, Botany, or equivalent. Analyze data using modern statistical and modeling techniques. Excellent proficiency in R and ArcPro for spatial analyses, data analysis, mapping, and visualization. Design and implement original research projects. Give public presentations and perform outreach to promote projects and engage the public and prospective donors. Quickly learn the California flora and use dichotomous keys to identify unfamiliar taxa. Be physically able to conduct field work in remote settings with rugged terrain, standing/walking for extended periods, bending, squatting, digging, hiking, and lifting up to 40 lbs. Experience supervising interns and/or volunteers. Experience managing budgets and tracking expenses. Detail‑oriented and goes above and beyond. Proficiency in Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Google products. Excellent communication and people skills for shared leadership and coordination across teams and projects, stakeholder engagement, and progressive resilience planning. Valid US driver’s license with vehicle; fuel stipend provided for project related activities. Desired Skills 2+ years as a Principal Investigator (PI) or Co‑PI. 2+ years experience outside of academia. Familiarity with EEMS. Experience with fire modeling programs such as FARSITE, FlamMap, Behave. Experience with Python. Ability to communicate factors influencing wildfire behavior and how vegetation treatments impact fire behavior. Familiarity with fundraising and donor relations. Experience with California flora. Knowledge of prescribed grazing, prescribed burning, habitat restoration, and other wildfire mitigation activities. Fluent in English and Spanish. Location This is a Countywide program in Santa Barbara, California. Work is hybrid with one full day in the office per week. The selected candidate must be within reasonable commuting distance to the project area due to frequent in‑person duties. Application Deadline Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis until a suitable candidate is found. For full consideration, please apply by June19,2026 EOD. Salary and Benefits This is an exempt (40 hours/week) position with occasional evening and weekend work. Salary is $104,000 per year. SBCFSC provides 3 weeks PTO, 5 sick days, a matching retirement plan, and health insurance reimbursement up to $6,450 per year. Required Application Materials Submit a single PDF including a cover letter illustrating suitability based on the above description, a curriculum vitae or résumé, and contact information for two references. All applications should be emailed to View email address on click.appcast.io with the subject line "Applied Landscape Ecologist". Equal Opportunity Employer The Santa Barbara Fire Safe Council is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Applicants from all cultures, races, colors, religions, sexes, national or regional origins, ages, disability status, sexual orientation, gender identity, military, or other status are encouraged to apply. #J-18808-Ljbffr