Postdoctoral Researcher position in Ecological Modelling (80-100%)

Eawag, the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, is an internationally networked aquatic research institute within the ETH Domain (Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology). Eawag conducts research, education and expert consulting to achieve the dual goals of meeting direct human needs for water and maintaining the function and integrity of aquatic ecosystems.

The Department of Systems Analysis, Integrated Assessment and Modelling (Siam) is announcing a

The goal of the project is to increase our understanding of time lags in the response of endangered species to conservation actions using stochastic simulation modelling of theoretical metapopulations and statistical modelling of long-term amphibian monitoring data. Time-delayed species responses to environmental change can result in extinction debts and colonization credits. Such time lags offer windows of opportunity for conservation action to target declining species, but complicate the assessment of the effectiveness of conservation measures. The rate of past and ongoing population declines is likely to affect the rate of response to conservation action, in ways that depend on the interaction between species life histories and the type and rate of environmental change. This project will use a combination of simulation modelling and statistical analyses to study 1) how current transient dynamics affect the power of conservation action to halt and reverse (meta-) population declines and enable long-term (meta-) population viability, and 2) on what time scales we can expect conservation action to show effects. Amphibian metapopulations are used as a case study.

We are looking for a highly motivated and independent person with a solid background in statistical modelling and/or quantitative ecological modelling and a PhD in ecology, applied statistics, theoretical ecology or related fields. Fluency in English and programming skills in R, Julia or an equivalent coding environment are a requirement. Good communication and writing skills, experience with metapopulation models, hierarchical modelling and Bayesian inference are also appreciated. The researcher will be expected to develop stochastic simulation models and statistical models fit to long-term monitoring data. Interest in evidence-based conservation, spatial dynamics, metapopulation theory and amphibian ecology are beneficial.

The starting date is negotiable (end of 2023 the latest) and the project duration will be 2 years.

Eawag is

a modern employer and offers an excellent working environment where staff can contribute their strengths, experience and ways of thinking. We promote gender equality and are committed to staff diversity and inclusion. The compatibility of career and family is of central importance to us. For more information about Eawag and our work conditions please consult

www.eawag.ch

and

www.eawag.ch/en/aboutus/working/employment

. Siam provides a friendly and stimulating research environment with the potential for interaction with researchers in statistical inference, computation and mathematical modelling.

The closing date for applications is 1 August 2023, interviews are expected to take place in mid August. Please submit your application including a CV (encouraged to contain only work-relevant information and no photograph), a short motivation letter, copies of academic qualifications and the names and contact information of three references.

We look forward to receiving your application. Please send it through this webpage, any other way of applying will not be considered. A click on the button below will take you directly to the application form.