Research Scientist 5 Streams (SE-RES-01-SE-RES-05)

Important messages

We are committed to providing an inclusive and barrier-free work environment, starting with the hiring process. If you need to be accommodated during any phase of the evaluation process, please use the Contact information below to request specialized accommodation. All information received in relation to accommodation will be kept confidential.

Assessment accommodation

The Government of Canada is committed to building a skilled workforce that is representative of Canada's diversity, which includes the recruitment of Canadian Veterans and releasing Canadian Armed Forces personnel: https://www.canada.ca/en/public-servicecommission/jobs/services/publicservice-jobs/canadian-armed-forcesmembers-veterans.html

We encourage applicants to identify any abilities, competencies, and/or experiences acquired through employment with the Canadian Armed Forces where applicable.

Work environment

Do you want to be at the forefront of forest science? The Laurentian Forestry Centre (LFC) of the Canadian Forest Service (CFS) is looking for research scientists in several fields of specialization. Successful candidates will work in multidisciplinary teams where they will have the opportunity to develop their own research programs and contribute to existing studies in various forestry-related research fields.

The CFS provides scientific and policy advice and expertise on forests and forestry at the regional, national and international levels. We work closely with the provinces and territories to ensure the sustainability and health of forests for the benefit of future generations. CFS is internationally recognized for the research work of its members in areas such as cumulative effects on Canada’s forests, forest-related climate change, forest pest risk management, sustainable forest management, wildland fires, and wood fiber solutions. To find out more about the Canadian Forest Service, visit our website: https://natural-resources.canada.ca/our-natural-resources/forests-forestry/the-canadian-forest-service.

Located in Quebec City, on the campus of Université Laval, the Laurentian Forestry Centre is a francophone, friendly and stimulating work environment where you’ll have the chance to work alongside some 25 other researchers and teams of dynamic, highly competent and committed professionals and technicians.

The ideal candidate, in addition to having recognized scientific expertise in a targeted research area, is a dynamic individual with strong leadership and interpersonal skills. He or she can easily establish scientific, financial and other partnerships, and is able to share research results with a wide range of scientific and non-scientific audiences. He or she is interested in a rewarding job that allows him or her to serve Canadians.

Intent of the process

The process is designed to fill two bilingual positions on a permanent basis (indeterminate appointment).

A pool of (fully or partially qualified) candidates may be established through this process to staff with identical or similar positions within Natural Resources Canada with various tenures, various language requirements (English Essential, French Essential, English or French Essential, or Bilingual), linguistic requirements (imperative and/or non-imperative) and profile(s) (BBB/BBB, CBC/CBC, CCC/CCC, etc.), various security requirements (Reliability status or Secret clearance), various conditions of employment and for various locations.

Positions to be filled: 2

Information you must provide

Your résumé.

In order to be considered, your application must clearly explain how you meet the following (essential qualifications)

EDUCATION:
Graduation with an acceptable doctoral degree from a recognized post-secondary institution in a field of the natural sciences related to the duties of the position (see streams), or the employer-approved alternative for the SE classification.

NOTE: The employer-approved alternative for the SE classification is an acceptable master’s or bachelor’s degree coupled with acceptable research, training, and experience. The degree must be from a recognized post-secondary institution and in scientific fields and specialties related to the duties of the position. The training and experience must clearly demonstrate the ability to do personal research of doctoral degree calibre.

PRODUCTIVITY/ RECOGNITION :
Productivity or recognition includes developmental work leading to the issue of patents, copyrights, or the creation of improved varieties, functions, or designs, and/or recognition by the professional community of the research environment. It also refers to recognized achievement in the form of authorship and editorship of published or unpublished reports, books, papers, or other communications resulting from:
• Research, experimental development, or tasking associated with operational equipment and problems;
• Operational research and scientific analysis;
• Planning, analysis and evaluation of Canadian and foreign programs in research and development.

Degree equivalency

COMMON EXPERIENCE FOR ALL STREAMS:
Experience in writing and submitting successful research funding applications (may include scholarship applications).

Experience supervising or coordinating the work of staff (may include students).

Experience interacting with stakeholders from industry, government, non-government or other groups to present research results, obtain support or guide research.

The following will be applied / assessed at a later date (essential for the job)

Bilingual - Imperative (BBB/BBB)
This means that successful candidates must demonstrate at least an intermediate knowledge of French and English. Please note that the Laurentian Forestry Centre is a French-speaking workplace.

Information on language requirements

ESSENTIAL EXPERIENCE FOR ONE OF THE FOLLOWING STREAM:
In order to be considered, you must have recent and in-depth experience* in developing and carrying out research aimed at improving knowledge in ONE of the following streams. Note that if you have recent and in-depth experience in more than one stream, you can specify this experience in each stream below. You will be asked to specify which stream(s) you wish to apply for.

STREAM 1: Wildland Fires
Management and dynamics of forest fuels at stand or landscape scale; or climatology or meteorology applied to wildland fires; or modeling, assessment, mitigation strategies or adaptation to risks associated with wildland fires; or economic and social aspects of wildland fires; or dimensions and perspectives of Indigenous Peoples in relation to wildland fires; or wildland fire management, suppression and behavior.

STREAM 2: Forest Entomology
Insect biodiversity; or insect ecology; or insect population dynamics; or integrated pest management; or interactions between climate change and insects. Note: experience in forestry is not essential but considered an asset for this stream.

STREAM 3: Remote sensing
Recent and in-depth experience in developing and carrying out research aimed at improving knowledge in the remote sensing domain applied to forestry or natural resources.

Recent and in-depth experience in the creation of computer programs, scripts and statistical models to integrate and process geospatial data from different sources to solve research problems in forestry or natural resources.

STREAM 4: Forest ecosystem modeling
Ecosystem dynamics; or forest productivity; or forest succession; or forest carbon dynamics.

STREAM 5: Plant ecophysiology
Physiology of trees or competing species or understory plants; or interactions between trees and their environment; or adaptation of trees to biotic or abiotic stresses; or impact of biotic or abiotic stress factors on tree growth, reproduction or mortality; or physiological and cellular responses of trees to environmental changes.

*”Recent and in-depth experience" means at least two (2) years' experience within the last five (5) years (may include doctoral training).

ABILITIES & COMPETENCIES:
C1 - Ability to communicate effectively orally
C2 - Ability to communicate effectively in writing
C3 - Ability to formulate relevant research questions
C4 - Ability to prepare and present a scientific conference

PERSONAL SUITABILITY:
PS1 - Effective interpersonal relationships
PS2 - Teamwork
PS3 - Leadership
PS4 - Integrity

The following may be applied / assessed at a later date (may be needed for the job)

ASSET EXPERIENCE :

All streams:
Experience collaborating on large-scale or multidisciplinary projects.

Stream 1: Wildland fires:
Experience in forecasting or modeling wildland fire behavior.
Experience working with or within a wildland fire management agency.

Stream 2: Forest entomology:
Recent and in-depth experience* in developing and carrying out research aimed at improving knowledge in the field of forest entomology.

Recent and in-depth experience* in developing and carrying out research aimed at improving knowledge in the field of biodiversity and the role of insects in the decomposition of wood or organic matter.

Recent and in-depth experience* in developing and carrying out research aimed at improving knowledge in the field of biodiversity and the role of insects in ecosystem services.

Stream 3: Remote sensing:
Recent and in-depth experience* in developing and carrying out research in the field of remote sensing applied to forestry, especially for monitoring forest disturbances and/or forest degradation and/or forest productivity and/or forest ecosystem characterization.

Recent and in-depth experience* in developing and conducting research using satellite image time series.

Recent and in-depth experience* in developing and carrying out research using artificial intelligence tools, techniques and algorithms, in particular deep learning and machine learning applied to image processing.

Recent and in-depth experience* in the development and execution of research exploiting tools, techniques and algorithms associated with Lidar or Radar or Hyperspectral data processing.

Recent and in-depth experience* using programming tools for data processing and manipulation, such as the Python language.

Recent and in-depth experience* using statistical analysis methods and statistical processing environments such as R or SAS.

Stream 4: Forest ecosystem modeling:
Recent and in-depth experience* in developing and carrying out research aimed at improving knowledge in the field of forest ecology and forest vegetation dynamics or forest ecophysiology.

Recent and in-depth experience* in carrying out studies directly applicable to climate change and its multiple effects on forest ecosystems, using computer models and field or laboratory research.

Recent and in-depth experience* in the design, development, and testing of computer simulation models.

Recent and in-depth experience* in the use and analysis of large geospatial, climatological, or remotely sensed data sets.

Recent and in-depth experience* in conducting and planning research using advanced statistical (spatial and time series) and modeling techniques in the field of ecology, including the combination and integration of several models.

Recent and in-depth experience* in the use of geospatial analytical software related to the R programming environment, Python, SpaDES, Landis II or Patchworks or other relevant tools.

Recent and in-depth experience* with artificial intelligence techniques and algorithms, including deep learning and machine learning applied to predictive modeling of ecosystems and ecosystem processes.

Stream 5: Plant ecophysiology
Recent and in-depth experience* in developing and conducting ecophysiological research applied to forest management strategies, natural disturbance regimes (drought, fire, insect epidemics, etc.) or climate change challenges for forest ecosystems.

Recent and in-depth experience* of the interactions between trees, soil, water and atmosphere in forest ecosystems.

Recent and in-depth experience* with state-of-the-art sampling tools and methods for measuring and analyzing water flux, photosynthesis, transpiration and other key physiological variables in trees.

Recent and in-depth experience* in developing and carrying out ecophysiological research involving sample collection and processing, setting up field or greenhouse experiments, simulating physiological stresses, directly measuring physiological parameters of trees/plants and observing their interactions with their environment in forestry contexts.

Recent and in-depth experience* in the design, development, and testing of computer simulation models to simulate tree physiological processes and predict forest ecosystem responses.

*”Recent and in-depth experience" means at least two (2) years' experience within the last five (5) years (may include doctoral training).

Selection may be limited to members of the following Employment Equity groups: Aboriginal persons, persons with disabilities, visible minorities, women

Information on employment equity

ORGANIZATIONAL NEEDS:
Natural Resources Canada is committed to establishing and maintaining a representative workforce. This organizational need may be identified as part of the appointment decision. In such cases, qualified candidates who self-declare as members of a visible minority group, Indigenous peoples, persons with disabilities or women (in non-traditional occupations) could be considered in priority.

OPERATIONAL REQUIREMENTS:
- Able and willing to travel nationally and internationally
- Able and willing to work flexible hours

Conditions of employment

Reliability Status security clearance

Other Conditions of Employment:
- A medical certification, if applicable
- A valid driver's license

Other information

The Public Service of Canada is committed to building a skilled and diverse workforce that reflects the Canadians we serve. We promote employment equity and encourage you to indicate if you belong to one of the designated groups when you apply.

Information on employment equity

The hiring organization will accept applications on-line only. All job applications must therefore be submitted through the Government of Canada jobs website. To submit an application on-line, please select the button “Apply Online” below. Persons with disabilities preventing them from applying on-line are asked to contact the person named below.

It is our intention to communicate with candidates via email for assessment purposes. This will include communication of invitations to written tests and interviews. To that end, candidates must include a valid email address in their application. It is the candidate’s responsibility to ensure that this address is functional and that it accepts messages from unknown users (some email systems block these types of email). It is also the candidate’s responsibility to ensure accurate information is provided and updated as required.

Candidates invited to an interview will be required to bring proof of their education credentials, in the form of a diploma or official transcript (original documents only). Candidates with foreign credentials must provide proof Canadian equivalency. Consult the Canadian Information Centre for International Credentials for further information at http://www.cicic.ca.

Candidates from outside the public service may be required to pay for travel and relocation costs associated with this selection process.

Reference checks may be sought.

An interview may be administered.

A test may be administered.

You must provide proof of your education credentials.

Persons are entitled to participate in the appointment process in the official language(s) of their choice.

Preference

Preference will be given to veterans first and then to Canadian citizens and permanent residents, with the exception of a job located in Nunavut, where Nunavut Inuit will be appointed first.

Information on the preference to veterans

We thank all those who apply. Only those selected for further consideration will be contacted.