Research Associate in Aquatic Biochemistry

Location: Silwood Park Campus

Job Summary

We are looking for an experimental researcher to join us as a Research Associate on the interdisciplinary NERC-funded project “Quantifying the true carbon removal potential of enhanced rock weathering”, a collaboration between the departments of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Life sciences at Imperial College London, and the department of Geography at the University of Birmingham.

The post will commence in October 2024. The project’s aim is to understand in its full complexity the artificial acceleration of the carbonate-silicate cycling, from the land surface to the oceans in order to use it as a negative emissions technology. This post will focus on the part of the cycling relevant to the aquatic environment of the cycling.

During the project you will be in charge of designing and implementing a series of aquatic ecology experiments to understand the aquatic and biogeochemical transport and transformation mechanisms of enhanced weathering products in UK rivers. The experiments will be conducted at the state-of-the-art facilities of the University of Birmingham and you will be supported by infrastructure and laboratory technicians at both Imperial College London and the University of Birmingham.

Duties and responsibilities

During this post you are expected to:

• Develop the experimental design of the aquatic experiments
• Assist the operation of the research flumes and data collection
• Perform laboratory analyses
• Perform data analysis on the collected results
• Collaborate with the project’s computational modelling team
• Author publications in peer reviewed journals
• Present your work in national and international conferences
• Collaborate with the research groups of Dr Cavan, Dr Khamis, Dr Waring and Dr Paschalis
• Be given the opportunity to get involved in teaching and supervision of MSc and PhD projects.

Essential requirements

The ideal candidate for this post:

• Will hold, or be near completion of, a PhD in environmental sciences/engineering, earth sciences, chemistry, geography, or similar (quantitative) field.
• Will have a deep understanding of aquatic biogeochemistry.
• Be competent in data analysis software (preferably proficient in R)
• Be competent and have demonstrated experience in lab work.
• Will be willing to work in an interdisciplinary collaborative environment and interact with ecologists and environmental engineers.

Further Information

This is a full time, fixed term position for 24 months, with potential extension conditional to research funding. Part-time hours will be considered. The post will commence in October 2024 and you will be based in Silwood Park Campus.

Candidates who have not yet been officially awarded their PhD will be appointed as a Research Assistant.

Hybrid working may be considered for this role.  Staff working in roles that are suitable for hybrid working will normally be expected to work 60% of their time onsite. The opportunity for hybrid working will be discussed at interview.

More information is available on the following web page: Work Location Framework | Administration and support services | Imperial College London

Should you have any questions or want to discuss the details of the post please contact Dr Cavan (e.cavan@imperial.ac.uk or Dr Khamis (k.khamis@bham.ac.uk) or the project’s PI, Dr Paschalis (a.paschalis@imperial.ac.uk)

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