Research Fellow in isotope geochemistry and biomineralisation

Applications are invited from researchers to work as a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow in the University of Southampton’s world-leading Geochemistry Research Group (https://www.southampton.ac.uk/oes/research/groups/geochemistry.page) in the School of Ocean and Earth Science at the National Oceanography Centre Southampton. You will join a community of >500 researchers and support staff drawn from physics, chemistry, biology, geoscience, and engineering, with a strong focus on marine biology and marine environments, to work in a project at the interface between geochemistry, palaeoclimate, and biomineralisation.

This post is funded through an ERC-selected Starting Grant to Dr David Evans (https://www.southampton.ac.uk/people/62c7dp/doctor-david-evans) but additionally involves a number of researchers from within the School and is closely linked to a growing team at the University of Southampton focused on driving forward the societal impact of palaeoclimate datasets by mechanistically understanding biomineralisation processes and boundary condition changes, funded via both the Royal Society and Dr Evans’ ERC-selected Starting Grant.

Our group’s research focuses in part on the use of biomineral geochemistry to infer ion transport processes during calcification, because the (trace) metal composition of the shell or skeleton must be controlled by the composition of the fluid at the site of calcification and the way in which ions are transported in and out of this enclosed space. However, it is increasingly recognised that most biominerals are formed via an amorphous or metastable precursor phase, which may impart an additional fractionation and complicate the interpretation of biomineral metal chemistry, yet the geochemical details of this process are poorly understood.

In this project, the applicant will address this knowledge gap via the experimental formation and characterisation of amorphous and crystalline materials under a wide range of conditions, including in situ techniques in collaboration with colleagues in the Institute of Life Sciences and utilising the School’s state of the art cryo-electron microscopy facility. Ultimately, the goal is to determine whether inorganic processes alone might be sufficient to explain the shell chemistry of calcifying marine organisms, and to build these findings into a geochemical biomineralisation model.

A successful candidate should have:

• A PhD (or equivalent) in geochemistry.
• Experience in the operation of single and/or multi-collector plasma mass spectrometer instruments, ideally including associated clean laboratory sample preparation.
• Experience in applying geochemical tools to constraining past environmental, oceanographic, or climatic change.
• Experience in geochemical box modelling, or an enthusiasm for developing these skills.
• Skills in hypothesis-testing, experiment design, analysis of data sets and writing scientific manuscripts and reports.

And should additionally:

• Demonstrate strong drive, ambition and motivation, with the capacity to deliver on challenging tasks and to meet deadlines both individually and as working as part of a team.
• Express a desire to apply cutting edge geochemical techniques to understanding marine biomineralisation.

This post is a fixed-term appointment for two years.

For further enquiries please contact Dr David Evans (d.evans@soton.ac.uk)

Apply by uploading your CV and a cover letter detailing how your skills and experience match the requirements of the role.

Further details:

• Job Description and Person Specification

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