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.
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).
