Postdoctoral Fellowship in Species Distribution Modeling in northern Europe
Ref SLU ua 2019.2.5.1-207
The Department of Ecology conducts internationally strong empirical and theoretical research and education aimed towards sustainable forestry, agriculture and conservation. Our research on populations, communities and ecosystems forms the basis for our research on the effects of land use and climate on animals, plants and soil. We aim at finding solutions that will contribute to improve greenhouse gas balances, conserve threatened species, support biodiversity and ecosystem services, sustainable wildlife management, and pest management in forest and agricultural landscapes, as well as in urban areas. However, we also work with basic questions concerning the ecology, evolution and dynamics of populations and especially from a perspective of climate, landscape and landuse change.
This Future Bird Scenarios project is based on funding from the BiodivERsA-Belmont Forum. The aim is to understand how future environmental change will affect avian distributions and the important ecosystem services that birds provide to human society. We will combine information on bird numbers from national survey programs and citizen science portals along with geographic data on land use, climatic conditions, and networks of conservation reserves. The project includes four integrated work packages (WPs) of which the postdoctoral researcher at SLU, Uppsala will mainly work with package 4: Identifying cross-seasonal interactions between breeding and nonbreeding seasons on avian responses to climate and landuse change (Tomas Pärt, SLU, Sweden). Other WPs are: 1) identifying the functional traits that the best predictors of the effects of environmental change on bird distributions (Jon Brommer, Univ. Turku, Finland); 2) assessing the risks for mountain birds where changes in land use and climate change are impacting alpine habitats (Brett Sandercock, NINA, Norway, and Åke Lindström, Lund Univ., Sweden); and 3) determining if current networks of protected areas are sufficient for future conservation needs (Aleksi Lehikoinen, Univ. Helsinki, Finland). The postdocs will work in close collaboration with the other WP teams and with collaborators at Cornell University (Wesley Hochachka, Cornell Lab of Ornithol., USA).
Duties:
The postdoc will investigate changes in bird distributions during breeding and winter and whether these relate to climate and landuse change. New statistical models, as e.g. those developed for eBird data in North America, will be applied in a new context to model bird distributions in northern Europe.
Qualifications:
As postdoctoral appointments are career-developing positions for junior researchers, we are primarily looking for candidates with a doctoral degree that is preferrably within 3 years of the application date.The PhD degree should be in biostatistics, quantitative ecology, or a related discipline . Other required qualifications are: 1) proven research productivity with publications in the peer-reviewed literature, and 2) good communications skills with fluency in English. Although not required it is also a merit to 3) show good abilities in collaborations and to work independently, and 4) have experience of working with large complex datasets, GIS, Bayesian modelling and/or species distribution modeling. A foundation of knowledge in the ecology of migratory birds may help, but is not required.
Place of work:
Uppsala
Form of employment:
Postdoc position for 2 years .
Extent:
100%
Starting date:
According to agreement
Application:
We welcome your application no later than 2019-02-21, use the link below
Contact person
Tomas Pärt
Professor
018-672704
tomas.part@slu.se
Jonas Knape
jonas.knape@slu.se
The advertisment and links to application
English:
https://www.slu.se/en/about-slu/jobs-vacancies/?rmpage=job&rmjob=1757&rmlang=UK
Swedish:
https://www.slu.se/om-slu/lediga-tjanster/?rmpage=job&rmjob=1759&rmlang=SE
We are looking forward to see your application!
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