PDRA in Wildfire Management

Full-time, fixed-term until 31/03/2027.

The closing date for applications is 23.59 on 5th September 2025.

The PDRA Fire Management Modelling will work on the LEMONTREE (Land Ecosystem Models based On New Theory, observations and Experiments) project and will be part of a team of scientists developing new fire modelling capacity, based on eco-evolutionary optimality theory. The PDRA will be explicitly responsible for designing an approach to incorporating fire management strategies into a new fire model. They will also be responsible for evaluating and optimising the performance of the new components, and assessing the potential impact of alternative fire management strategies on risk mitigation under future climate change. The PDRA will be based at the University of Reading. They will collaborate with project scientists involved in the LEMONTREE Fire Working Group at the University of Reading and Imperial College and in the Leverhulme Centre for Wildfires, Environment and Society, and will also be expected to interact with other members of the LEMONTREE team.

The ideal candidate will have:

• A PhD in environmental science or closely related discipline by the start date of the appointment.
• Broad understanding of wildfire science, including fire management strategies.
• Practical experience in using global wildfire data sets and in generating data sets from local case studies.
• Good programming skills, specifically R and Python.
• Familiarity with statistical approaches used for model evaluation, including geostatistics and timeseries analyses.
• Previous research experience and publication record.
• The ability to use own initiative and plan, manage and prioritise workload effectively to meet varied and strict project delivery deadlines.

Please see the job description and personal specification (available on the university's website, accessed by the 'Apply' button) for further details.

Interview date: 12th September 2025.

For more information, please contact:
Contact Name: Prof Sandy Harrison
Contact Job Title: Professor in Global Palaeoclimates and Biogeochemical Cycles
Contact Email Address: s.p.harrison@reading.ac.uk

Alternative Contact Name: Sophia Cain
Alternative Contact Job Title: Project Science Coordinator
Alternative Contact Email address: s.l.cain@reading.ac.uk

The University is committed to having a diverse and inclusive workforce, supports the gender equality Athena SWAN Charter and the Race Equality Charter, and champions LGBT+ equality. We are a Disability Confident Employer (Level 2). Applications for job-share, part-time and flexible working arrangements are welcomed and will be considered in line with business needs.

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