Postdoctoral position: Climate-Smart Ecosystem Management 1489 views

The Forest Nature and Landscape Department, Earth and Environmental Sciences Department within the Science and Technology Group at KU Leuven has a Postdoctoral position vacant in Climate-Smart Ecosystem Management.

About the position:

• The selected candidate will work under the supervision of Prof. Karen Vancampenhout, an expert in the field of soil biogeochemistry, carbon cycles and management of natural resources.
• The selected candidate will design solutions for climate change and sustainability from a system approach with the emphasis on interactions between environment, soil, plant and animal.
• Working at different scales and exploring spatial relationships between systems and their ecosystem services form an integral part of that approach.
• The selected candidate will be committed to converting fundamental technologies and concepts for climate adaptation and mitigation into applied management solutions for forests and nature reserves.
• Interest in sustainable management of natural resources in the tropics is a plus.

Current research topics:

• Climate smart and spatially explicit management of ecosystems, in particular forests and peat areas;
• regime shifts in carbon cycles in the soil with changes in acidity, temperature and availability of water;
• Non-linear effects of tree species on forest soils and carbon capture;
• Sustainable alternatives to peat in aggregates and plant substrates in agriculture and horticulture;
• Projects for sustainable land use in Ethiopia and Tanzania;
• Stress detection and limitation in plants;
• Multi-year plant productivity and vitality;
• Effects of digital, sensor-controlled grazing in protected areas on vegetation composition and soil quality – Increased sustainability of livestock farming through improved production efficiency.

Requirements:

• Applicant must hold PhD in the field of Life Sciences, Bio-Engineering, Ecology, Plant Biology or related.
• A proven and successful international publication process;
• Didactic skills and enthusiastic to give different courses to BSc and MSc students;
• High intrinsic motivation and a strong scientific curiosity;
• Team player who can work independently in a multidisciplinary team;
• Excellent oral and written communication skills;
• Proactive, flexible and problem-solving attitude.

How to apply:

Apply online