Doctoral Student in Environmental Science - Hiring in process/Finished, not possible to apply

Boreal forest recovery after clear-cut or forest fire: We are looking for a highly motivated PhD student to model and forecast greenhouse gas exchanges and carbon pools of boreal forests after disturbance.

Boreal forests constitute the second largest forest biome after the tropical rainforest, with an estimated contribution of 20% of the global terrestrial CO2 sink. To date, very little is known on the impact of forest clear-cuts and of wildfires on Sweden's boreal forest ecosystems and their carbon balance, particularly regarding the early recovery years.

This PhD project will use simulations of an ecosystem model and remote sensing data to analyse scenarios of alternative reforestation strategies (after clear-cut and after forest fire) for different climate predictions. Overall the project's results will improve quantification and reduce uncertainties of the greenhouse gas budgets for Sweden's forests.

PhD Project

This PhD project is embedded in a large Formas project that aims to assess the biotic and abiotic climate effects (“costs”) of rotation forestry. The PhD student will gain research experience in state-of-the-art ecosystem modelling, remote sensing data analysis, and be able to work in an international team with world-leading scientists. The climate-change related research will support the fulfilling of the Paris Agreement and the ambitious Swedish climate mitigation targets.

In collaboration with ecosystem modellers and inverse modellers, the PhD student will combine data assimilation techniques and simulations with the ecosystem model LPJ-GUESS, to analyse scenarios of alternative reforestation strategies (after clear-cut and after forest fire) driven by climate model data. We will support the PhD student in publishing the results in high-quality journals and to present them at international conferences. The post is based in Lund, Sweden.

Qualifications

Requirements

• University degree (preferably MSc or equivalent) in a natural science subject (e.g. environmental sciences, physical geography, atmospheric sciences, ecosystem analysis, ecology, biology).
• In-depth background knowledge in greenhouse gas budgeting, climate science
• Very good numeric skills, statistics and experience with ecosystem modelling and programming languages: Matlab, Python, C++
• Proficiency in both written and spoken English
• Excellent written and oral communication skills, ability to tackle research problems and to work in a team but also independently, and to complete activities on time

Merits

• Strong interest and background in forest ecology and forest management
• Strong interest in programming and computational data analysis
• Experience with writing scientific publications, especially in English
• Knowledge in handling of remote sensing imagery and other large data sets
• Other experience relevant to the PhD studies, e.g. professional experience

Eligibility

Students with basic eligibility for third-cycle studies are those who- have completed a second-cycle degree- have completed courses of at least 240 credits, of which at least 60 credits are from second-cycle courses, or- have acquired largely equivalent knowledge in some other way, in Sweden or abroad.

The employment of doctoral students is regulated in the Swedish Code of Statues 1998: 80. Only those who are or have been admitted to PhD-studies may be appointed to doctoral studentships. When an appointment to a doctoral studentship is made, the ability of the student to benefit from PhD-studies shall primarily be taken into account. In addition to devoting themselves to their studies, those appointed to doctoral studentships may be required to work with educational tasks, research and administration, in accordance with specific regulations in the ordinance.

Type of employment

Limit of tenure, four years according to HF 5 kap 7§.

Instructions on how to apply

Applications shall be written in English and include a cover letter, a CV, degree certificate or equivalent, and other documents you wish to be considered (grade transcripts, contact information for your references, letters of recommendation, etc.). Please do not send us any original documents unless we ask for them.