Postdoctoral Research Associate

The starting salary will be from £34,610 on Grade E, depending on qualifications and experience.

The post

The Faculty wishes to recruit a Postdoctoral Research Associate to participate in an exciting project “MOTHERSHIP: Improving MOdelling approaches to assess climate change-related THresholds and Ecological Range SHIfts in the Earth’s Peatland ecosystems”  (peatmothership.org). This post is immediately available on a fixed-term basis until 31^st March 2027. The successful applicant will work with Prof. Gallego-Sala and Dr. Burke in the Metoffice and a team of experts to assess the risk that climate change will push peatlands past thresholds so that they become (more) unstable, rapidly losing carbon to the atmosphere. Some of the key questions that this work will answer are: What are the combinations of climate conditions and management that could lead to catastrophic future loss of European peatlands? Can spatially targeted peatland management, including rewetting efforts, allow loss of carbon to be avoided and secured through to 2100? In this post, you will extend the group’s initial work on modelling peatland ecosystems to develop a fully-functioning, spatially-resolved model that can simulate the impacts of drainage and rewetting on temperate peatland hydrology, carbon and vegetation dynamics. This will include using new datasets and high-resolution modelling developed in the MOTHERSHIP project.

About you

The successful applicant will be able to achieve project objectives, present information on research progress and outcomes, communicate complex information, orally, in writing and electronically and prepare proposals and applications to external bodies, and make presentations at conferences and other events.

Applicants will possess a relevant PhD or be near completion (in environmental physics, carbon cycle science, mathematics, etc.) or possess an equivalent qualification/experience in a related field of study. They will be able to demonstrate sufficient knowledge in the discipline to work within the project, including experience of computer programming (e.g. FORTRAN, C++), and wider computing skills (e.g. R, Python or similar).

What we can offer you

• Freedom (and the support) to pursue your intellectual interests and to work creatively across disciplines to produce internationally exciting research;
• The opportunity to participate in/contribute to high profile international model intercomparison projects such as ISIMIP and/or WIE-MIP.
• A collaboration opportunity with the Met Office
• The opportunity to join a wider existing and supportive team currently developing and working with JULES-peat at the University of Exeter
• Support teams that understand the University wide research and teaching goals and partner with our academics accordingly
• Our Exeter Academic initiative supporting high performing academics to achieve their potential and develop their career
• A multitude of staff benefits including sector leading benefits around maternity, adoption and shared parental leave (up to 26 weeks full pay), Paternity leave (up to 6 weeks full pay), and a new Fertility Treatment Policy
• A beautiful campus set in the heart of stunning Devon.

Please ensure you read the Job Description and Person Specification for full details of this role, by clicking the 'apply' button.

Further Information

For further information please contact Prof. Angela Gallego-Sala, email: A.Gallego-Sala@exeter.ac.uk.

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