PhD in Resilience and Vulnerability of Tundra Landscapes to Permafrost Thaw

23 Feb 2024
Job Information

Organisation/Company

Utrecht University

Research Field

Physics

Researcher Profile

First Stage Researcher (R1)

Country

Netherlands

Application Deadline

20 Mar 2024 - 22:59 (UTC)

Type of Contract

Temporary

Job Status

Not Applicable

Hours Per Week

40.0

Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme?

Not funded by an EU programme

Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure?

No

Offer Description

For our ERC-Synergy project Pathways of resilience and evasion of tipping in ecosystems (RESILIENCE ), the University of British Columbia offers a PhD position for a self-motivated candidate with a strong scientific background in the fields of ecology, remote sensing, environmental sciences, data science, mathematics or statistics with excellent English language skills.

Your job
There is an urgent need to understand the effects that global change can have on the Earth, its system components and ecosystems. One area of critical concern is the imminent abrupt and irreversible critical transitions of ecosystems through tipping points. Recent discoveries indicate that such tipping could be evaded and even reversed in ecosystems through spatial pattern formation, thereby creating pathways of resilience.

The aim of RESILIENCE is to fundamentally advance our understanding and predictions of tipping points and critical transitions in ecosystems and reveal how these can be evaded and even reversed through spatial pattern formation. RESILIENCE will develop a new theory for emerging resilience through spatial pattern formation and link this with real tipping-prone biomes undergoing accelerating global change: savanna and tundra. The candidate will benefit from the expertise of the four Principal Investigators (PIs) in the RESILIENCE project: Max Rietkerk , an ecologist at Utrecht University, Arjen Doelman, a mathematician at Leiden University, Ehud Meron, a physicist at Ben-Gurion University, and Isla Myers-Smith, an ecologist at the University of British Columbia.

In this PhD project at University of British Columbia, you will study spatial patterns in tundra ecosystems, revealing how spatial patterns relate to ecosystems tipping points including permafrost thaw in tundra ecosystems. For this project, you could use a combination of satellite images, aerial photographs, drone imagery and in-situ data from focal tundra research sites and regions around the circumpolar Arctic to quantify how spatial patterns relate to landscape stability and permafrost thaw over time. This research will increase our understanding of tundra ecosystem resilience and will be used to predict rates of permafrost thaw disturbances across tundra landscapes with global change. We collaborate with other PhD candidates, postdocs and senior researchers from the different involved universities to explore mathematical and physical models of the resulting data to address the larger project goals.

Requirements
Specific Requirements

Candidates for this PhD position should have:

• a MSc degree in ecology, remote sensing, environmental sciences, data science, mathematics, statistics or a related field;
• a desire to develop strong quantitative skills;
• interest in interdisciplinary research;
• experience in writing and publishing peer-reviewed articles;
• fluency in verbal and written English;
• ability to work independently and lead collaborative research projects;
• interest in working in an interdisciplinary and collaborative environment as a part of a diverse team;
• willingness to participate in fieldwork.

Candidates for this PhD position would ideally have:

• knowledge of spatial analysis and Bayesian statistics;
• experience in R and/or Python programming;
• experience using version control software and managing data;
• experience conducting fieldwork;
• experience in northern ecosystems;
• experience piloting drone and working with drone imagery.

Additional Information
Benefits

You will be offered a full-time four-year position. The annual salary will be $32,000 CAD per year with tuition covered and the option take on teaching assistant contracts to supplement this funding. Students are encouraged to apply for external scholarships in addition to the base salary for this position.

Selection process

We strive to create a respectful, positive and safe working environment for people of all backgrounds. We believe that inclusiveness and diversity are essential to academic excellence. We encourage members of underrepresented groups to apply including First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples, Indigenous peoples of North America, Black-identified persons, other racialized persons, persons with disabilities, and those who identify as women and/or 2SLGBTQ+.

To apply, please send your curriculum vitae, including a letter of motivation, via the ‘apply now’ button. The application procedure is organised via Utrecht University as project coordinator.

Additional comments

For more information about this position, please contact Professor Isla Myers-Smith .

Website for additional job details

https://www.academictransfer.com/338154/

Work Location(s)

Number of offers available

1

Company/Institute

Universiteit Utrecht

Country

Netherlands

City

Utrecht

Postal Code

3584CB

Street

Princetonlaan 8a

Geofield

Where to apply

Website

https://www.academictransfer.com/en/338154/phd-in-resilience-and-vulnerability-…

Contact

City

Utrecht

Website

http://www.uu.nl/

Street

Domplein 29

Postal Code

3512 JE

STATUS: EXPIRED