PostDoc “Digiforest” 80 – 100% (f/m/d)

The Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL is part of the ETH Domain. Approximately 600 people work on the sustainable use and protection of the environment and on the handling of natural hazards.

The research unit Forest Resources and Management assesses conditions and changes in forests and works on solutions for the efficient provision of ecosystem services. For the research group "Sustainable Forestry" at the headquarters in Birmensdorf, is searching for the duration of 2 years with start in summer/fall a

PostDoc “Digiforest” 80 – 100% (f/m/d)

In the framework of the project Digiforest "Digital Analytics and Robotics for Sustainable Forestry" (

https://digiforest.eu/

) we are looking for a PostDoc who would like to develop a forestry decision support system that is based on high resolution input data being gathered through different robotic systems (ALS, TLS) and processed to be used by for forest professionals. Together with the international Digiforest consortium you will contribute to this aim mainly by focusing on the following tasks:

• Semantic and object mapping (semantic label for each measured data point from the LiDAR and camera data; individual tree segmentation and modeling); 
• Biodiversity and health assessment (identification and mapping of dead, dying or stressed trees based on LiDAR; identification of aspects being important for biodiversity applications and occupational health);
• Set up of a decision support system by coupling input data to existing forest growth simulator and indicator value functions under consideration of IPCC climate scenarios and different forest management strategies. The prototype result will be tested in the frame of the project for our case study site. 

You have a PhD in Forestry, Remote Sensing, Data Science or equivalent and an interest in scientific questions and applications related to forestry and environmental sciences. You bring experience in close-range remote sensing techniques and ideally in silviculture, forest heath, operations and management. Furthermore, you are proficient in the handling of big-data and in programming languages (R, Python). Having experience with machine learning methods is an advantage. 

You are ambitious and motivated, with a high standard of independent, structured, and careful working attitude, and demonstrate a high level of team spirit. Your advanced social skills will support your successful interaction with our project partners and stakeholders. Your deep understanding of the forest ecosystem, the forest industry and the market in combination with your remote sensing expertise will enable you to create a decision support system ideally suited to the needs of forest professional.

Please send your complete application to Beatrice Lamprecht, Human Resources WSL, by uploading the requested documents through our webpage. Applications via email will not be considered. Janine Schweier, Groupe Leader, (

[email protected]

) or Holger Griess (

[email protected]

), will be happy to answer any questions or offer further information. The WSL strives to increase the proportion of women in its employment, which is why qualified women are particularly called upon to apply for this position.