January 23, 2024

The Koger Lab specializes in designing and using novel imaging and image processing techniques to study natural systems. The lab uses a combination of drone, satellite, and ground-based imagery paired with deep learning detection and tracking algorithms to investigate how animals’ behaviors are influenced by their social and physical environments.
The prospective postdoc will join a research program centered on Pacific salmon ecosystems in the Bristol Bay watershed of Alaska in close collaboration with Dr. Andrew Berdahl at the University of Washington and Dr. Albert Kao at UMass Boston. Possible specific projects include: 
  1. Salmon sensing and navigation from the individual to the collective level at stream confluences during migration;
  2. Hunting and collective evasion dynamics during brown bear hunts of nesting salmon;
  3. Ecosystem scale description of salmon and bear landscape use over the nesting season from individuals to populations;
  4. Building ML-powered pipelines for efficient image processing.
The successful applicant will have a strong interest in either the biological questions or the imaging methods, but preferably both.