Research Technician Plant and Soil Ecology

We wish to appoint a highly committed and capable research technician to provide technical support for a recently funded NERC project that aims to experimentally test how the upward expansion of ericaceous shrubs modifies processes regulating soil carbon gain and loss, and hence soil carbon storage in alpine grassland. This full-time, 3-year position will work in collaboration with a postdoctoral scientist to be appointed to the project and collaborators at the Universities of Innsbruck, Bangor, and Stirling, and will involve a unique combination of field and controlled environment studies, combined with the use of state of the art approaches to interrogate how the expansion of ericaceous shrubs modifies soil processes of carbon cycling in alpine grasslands, including the sequestration and stabilisation of carbon. Field experiments will to be carried out on high altitude (> 2500m) alpine grasslands subject to shrub encroachment in the Austrian Alps, as used in our past NERC research.

You will have significant experience of fieldwork and of setting up and maintaining field experiments, including sampling of soils and vegetation, measurement of gas (CO₂) fluxes, and analysis of those samples for nutrients and carbon, and fungal communities in the laboratory. You should hold a BSc in a relevant science and be willing to work overseas for extended periods of time. You will be part of the newly established Centre for Sustainable Soils at Lancaster University, which has newly refurbished laboratories with state-of-the-art facilities for soil microbial and biogeochemical analysis, including stable isotopes and molecular assessment of soils.

This post is available from the 1^st July 2025 and is available for three years, although extensions may be possible subject to funding.

Informal inquiries are welcome and may be directed to Professor Richard Bardgett: r.d.bardgett1@lancaster.ac.uk

Find out what it's like to work at Lancaster University, including information on our wide range of employee benefits, support networks, and our policies and facilities for a family-friendly workplace.

The University recognises and celebrates good employment practice undertaken to address all inequality in higher education whilst promoting the importance and wellbeing for all our colleagues.

We warmly welcome applicants from all sections of the community regardless of their age, religion, gender identity or expression, race, disability or sexual orientation, and are committed to promoting diversity, and equality of opportunity.

Please note: unless specified otherwise in the advert, all advertised roles are UK based.

Type / Role:

Subject Area(s):

Location(s):