The Agriculture, Water and Climate Research Group (www.ag-water.weebly.com), led by Dr Tim Foster, are seeking to appoint a Postdoctoral Research Associate for an initial 2-year term as part of the TRANSCEND project (Transformational and robust adaptation to water scarcity and climate change under deep uncertainty) funded by UK Research and Innovation and the European Commission (https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101084110). Over the next four years, TRANSCEND’s goal is to identify, design, and implement policy solutions that enable society to adapt sustainably to challenges posed by water scarcity, climate and socio-economic change.
As part of TRANSCEND, you will be responsible for developing new knowledge and data-driven tools to strengthen monitoring and implementation of policies to address water scarcity in the agricultural sector. Your work will advance understanding about the current barriers to agricultural water use monitoring, and develop tools that leverage Earth Observation and geospatial models to improve information on spatial and temporal patterns of irrigated cropland areas and water use. You will work with the TRANSCEND consortium to embed these data in river basin planning frameworks, helping policymakers and practitioners to more reliably and effectively design and implement innovative water management strategies.
The TRANSCEND project will be implemented across a set of seven living labs in river basins facing growing water scarcity: the Júcar (Spain); Reno (Italy); Tympaki (Greece); Nitra (Slovakia); Caplina-Mauri-Desaguadero System (Peru, Chile and Bolivia); Orontes (Lebanon, Syria and Turkey); and Mahanadi (Indian states of Chhattisgarh and Odisha). In your role, you will work closely with local researchers and practitioners in some or all of these living labs to leverage tools developed by your research to solve immediate and long-term stakeholder-defined water management challenges. You will collaborate closely with other academic partners that are part of the TRANSCEND consortium, providing a unique opportunity to be embedded within an international network of world-leading researchers working on challenges of water management, climate adaptation, and socio-environmental modelling.
You will have a PhD (or be close to completion) in a relevant field, such as remote sensing, agriculture, land use science, hydrology, physical geography, environmental sciences, or a related field. You will have demonstrated expertise in the use and analysis of earth observation imagery (optical and/or radar), the ability to work effectively with geospatial data in programming languages such as R or Python, and strong written and oral communication skills in English. You will also have a strong interest in use of remote sensing and other data-driven methods (e.g., crop models, machine learning) to support environmental and natural resource management policy, including evidence of engaging with policy-oriented research in an interdisciplinary team environment. A track record of peer-reviewed publications and development of data or software products will be an asset.
You will be based in the Agriculture, Water and Climate Research Group based within the Department of Fluids and Environment at the University of Manchester. You will be part of a dynamic and growing group of postdoctoral researchers and PhD students working on the agricultural water management, climate adaptation, and land use change in several regions around the world (http://www.fosterlab.weebly.com).
What you will get in return:
As an equal opportunities employer we welcome applicants from all sections of the community regardless of age, sex, gender (or gender identity), ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation and transgender status. All appointments are made on merit.
Our University is positive about flexible working – you can find out more here
Hybrid working arrangements may be considered.
Please note that we are unable to respond to enquiries, accept CVs or applications from Recruitment Agencies.
Any recruitment enquiries from recruitment agencies should be directed to People.Recruitment@manchester.ac.uk. Any CV’s submitted by a recruitment agency will be considered a gift.
Enquiries about the vacancy, shortlisting and interviews:
Name: Dr Tim Foster, Senior Lecturer in Water-Food Security
Email: timothy.foster@manchester.ac.uk
General enquiries:
Email: People.recruitment@manchester.ac.uk
Technical support:
https://jobseekersupport.jobtrain.co.uk/support/home
This vacancy will close for applications at midnight on the closing date.
Please see the link below for the Further Particulars document which contains the person specification criteria.
