Research Associate (Socially Responsible Earth Observation)

Job reference: SAE-032577
Salary: £37,694 to £42,254 per annum depending on relevant experience
Faculty/Organisational Unit: Science and Engineering
Location: Oxford Road
Employment type: Fixed Term
Division/Team: Department of Civil Engineering and Management
Hours Per Week: 35
Closing date (DD/MM/YYYY): 08/11/2026
Contract Duration: 24 months
School/Directorate: School of Engineering

We are seeking to appoint a talented and enthusiastic Postdoctoral Research Associate (PDRA) to play a key role in delivering an exciting investment project (IrrEO) that will develop satellite-based irrigation mapping tools for governments and development actors in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).

Earth Observation (EO) technologies are enabling agricultural mapping at increasingly large scales and fine resolutions. This brings exciting opportunities to understand complex farming systems, particularly in data-sparse smallholder farming regions. However, recent research has revealed the social risks of EO-based land monitoring. Examples include imperfect representations leading to poorly informed decision-making or biased investments, and marginalised people being made visible through EO in ways which may expose them to harm. There is an urgent need for improved social risk analysis and development of good practice guidance for EO-based agricultural mapping.

As part of the IrrEO project, the PDRA will lead on developing guidance for the socially responsible development and use of EO-based agricultural mapping tools in small-scale farming systems in Sub-Saharan Africa. They will catalogue existing scholarship and frameworks on the ethical and equitable use of EO in agricultural mapping. They will also carry out document-based and qualitative interview research to identify potential risks of EO-based agricultural mapping in different socio-political and agricultural contexts, focusing particularly on risks to farmers and farming communities. Based on these two workstreams and consultation with the IrrEO partners, they will devise and share strategies for socially response EO-based agricultural monitoring.

The PDRA will be an integral member of the IrrEO project team, working closely with Principal Investigator Prof. Tim Foster (Department of Civil Engineering and Management) and Co-Investigators Dr. Rose Pritchard (Global Development Institute). They will also work closely with a wider team of investigators and postdoctoral researchers at the University of Manchester involved in the IrrEO project and other aligned research on socially-just use of Earth Observation including the Just Earth Observation for Conservation project (JEOC – https://www.justearthobservation.org/) which is co-led by Pritchard and Foster. The role will involve close collaboration with academic and non-academic partners in the project’s case study countries (Kenya, Nigeria, and Ethiopia) and active engagement with UK and international partners including the World Bank and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

The IrrEO project is funded by a four-year (2025-2029) investment from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Due to the nature of the funding, this post is available for a fixed term of up to 24 months with an end date of 31 August 2029. We are looking for a candidate to start in early 2027, with some flexibility over the exact start date.

Enquiries about the role, shortlisting and interviews

Name: Prof Tim Foster, Professor of Land and Water Informatics and Director of Manchester Environmental Research Institute (MERI)

Email: timothy.foster@manchester.ac.uk

General enquiries and administrative support

recruitmentservices.people@manchester.ac.uk

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