Research Associate

Project and Department
We are looking to recruit an independent and ambitious Post Doctoral Research Associate (PDRA) in glaciology to work full time on a NERC-funded three-year research project entitled: ‘Greenland ice marginal lake evolution as a driver of ice sheet change - how important are rising lake temperatures?’ The project will focus on the hitherto sparsely-studied ice-marginal lake environment and seek to quantify its role in shaping the future of the Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS).

Over the past 50 years, the Arctic has warmed at more than twice the global rate and it is virtually certain that this will continue. In response to this, the GrIS has lost mass, and consequently the retreat of ice margins and increasing amounts of melt have led to a substantial growth in the number and size of ice-marginal lakes. These lakes are important because they play a key role in controlling rates of ice marginal melt as well as impacting up-glacier ice dynamics. We currently have almost no data on how their thermal characteristics have changed (or not) over recent decades, and even less firm evidence to quantify how they will evolve into the future and the likely effect that will have on melt. The aim of this proposal is, therefore, to characterise the temporal and spatial thermal regime of Greenlandic ice-marginal lakes, and their impact on ice margin dynamics and recession.

The successful candidate will be based in the Department of Environment and Geography at the University of York but will form part of a team that also includes scientists at the Universities of Leeds, Bangor and Reading.

Role
The role of the successful applicant will be to lead a field-focussed work-package that will involve two field expeditions to Greenland. The primary objectives will be to install an array of time lapse cameras around part of the ice margin, and to install a series of thermistor strings in lakes along the western margin of the GrIS. In addition, we will use a UAV equipped with a thermal camera to further explore lake temperatures. The PDRA will be expected to play a leading role in the two field campaigns – the planning as well as the data collection, processing, analysis and interpretation. The project also has additional remote sensing and modelling work packages, and the successful candidate will be expected to interact and engage with these too. The successful candidate will take the lead on relevant publications and conference presentations, as well as facilitating other outreach and dissemination pathways as they see fit.

Skills, Experience & Qualification needed
The successful candidate will have a first degree and a Ph.D. in appropriate disciplines such as Geography, Geology, Earth Science, Glaciology. The person will have experience of glaciological fieldwork and must be willing to travel and spend time living and working ‘in the field’ during the planned field seasons in Greenland. Experience in deploying UAVs and time-lapse photography, as well as the application of Structure from Motion approaches will be advantageous though not essential. However, the successful applicant will be expected to show a willingness to learn new techniques. The successful applicant will also be expected to write up key findings for high impact academic journals and to present at national and international conferences.

Interview date: Week commencing 12 June 2023

For informal enquiries: please contact David Rippin on david.rippin@york.ac.uk.

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