Post-doctoral Research Associate: Climate Data Analysis and Co-creation of Impact-based Forecasts with Pastoral Communities in East Africa

Full-time: 35 hours per week

Fixed-term: 24-month contract

The opportunity:

Interdisciplinary science is at the forefront of designing solutions to building resilience to climate change. Join an interdisciplinary team using cutting-edge approaches to explore the design and development of climate services for pastoral communities in East Africa. The University of Edinburgh along with partners at the Alliance Biodiversity CIAT (Kenya and Ethiopia) and the University of Nairobi have secured UKRI funding to bridge the gap between the needs of pastoralists and formal early warning systems by bringing together an interdisciplinary group of stakeholders to co-develop a weather information service from the bottom-up. Climate shocks are a significant cause of livestock mortality, acute malnutrition and chronic poverty among pastoralists living in the drylands of East Africa. While several early warning systems provide forecasts for the drylands of East Africa, the use of these services is nearly non-existent among pastoralists in the region but the potential value is very high. A growing body of literature indicates a mismatch between the communication needs of pastoralists and modes and content of existing early warning systems as a chief barrier to greater use. You will work with a dynamic team from a wide range of backgrounds and countries to help identify data needs of pastoralists, how formal early warning systems can be better designed to meet these needs and co-develop a protype that combines weather, climate and local economic data that can be managed and maintained by local stakeholders.  

Working pattern:

This post is full-time (35 hours per week); we are open to considering flexible working patterns. We are also open to considering requests for hybrid working (on a non-contractual basis) that combines a mix of remote and regular on-campus working.

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