Research Fellow (Co-Centre for Climate+ Biodiversity+ Water)

About the job:

The Co-Centre for Climate+ Biodiversity+ Water is seeking to recruit an experienced and motivated Research Fellow to play an active role as part of a new research project team across several Schools at Queen’s University Belfast. The Co-Centre is an exciting new tri-jurisdictional initiative spanning Northern Ireland, Great Britain and the Republic of Ireland, which is managed jointly by QUB and Trinity College Dublin and funded by the Science Foundation Ireland (SFI), DAERA and UKRI.

The Co-Centre will seek to be the home of research, innovation, and policy development across the interlinked challenges of climate change, biodiversity loss, and water degradation on the islands of Ireland and Britain, with the goal of integrating research across both islands to address these crises. The Research Fellow will assist in the Monitoring Platform which aims to develop new monitoring approaches and evidence-based research results for climate, biodiversity and water to support effective decision-making. This post will specifically assist in the Monitoring Platform Project which aims to deliver a holistic understanding of peatland restoration past, present and future, through digital technologies.

Working as part of a team, this post will investigate the role of ‘transitions’ by exploring how peatland ecosystems have responded to previous climate/environmental events. We will investigate peatland change over time and more broadly how terrestrial ecosystem changes are related to extreme events.

The post will be part of the School of Natural and Built Environment but will work as part of a multi-disciplinary team based in the dedicated Co-Centre Hub.

The key activities and responsibilities of the post are to:

• Develop and undertake research under supervision and as a member of the Co-Centre Monitoring Platform team within the Palaeo-modelling for peatland ecosystems research project.
• Design, develop and refine the use modelling approaches- Holocene Peat Model (HPM) or Digibog to look at how peatlands will respond under future climate scenarios in terms of their net carbon balance and other factors.
• Examine approaches to rehabilitate peatlands, ecologically (plant macros), and hydrologically (testate amoebae).
• Carry out analyses, critical evaluations, and interpretations using methodologies and other techniques appropriate to the area of research of Palaeo-modelling for peatland ecosystems.

About the person:

Candidates should normally have or be about to obtain (usually within three months) a relevant PhD in Palaeoecology, Geography, Ecology, Environmental Sciences or closely related areas.

Candidates should have:

• Substantial relevant research experience in the modelling of ecological (plant macros) and hydrological (testate amoebae) modelling.
• Experience in peat modelling approaches (e.g. Holocene Peat Model [HPM] or Digibog).
• Experience in terrestrial surveying and ground-based monitoring to investigate carbon accumulation, land-use (peatland ecosystems, biodiversity) change.
• Experience of using Geographical Information Systems (ArcGIS or open GIS such as QGIS).
• Ability to work in a multi-disciplinary environment as part of a research.
• Ability to contribute to teaching delivery, skills for green transition and science.
• Ability to contribute to broader management and administrative.

To be successful at shortlisting stage, please ensure you clearly evidence in your application how you meet the essential and, where applicable, desirable criteria listed in the Candidate Information on our website.

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