Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke)

Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke) is a research organisation that builds sustainable future and well-being from renewable natural resources. We create knowledge-based solutions and services for our customers and add value to a sustainable and competitive business based on renewable natural resources. We also support public policy making related to natural resources and the resource economy.

Luke's tasks and organisation are regulated in the Act on the Natural Resources Institute Finland (561/2014). Luke is operating under the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of Finland.

Being open-minded, curious, and having a strong will to make a positive impact in the world bind Luke people together. We value our diverse working community consisting of people with different backgrounds and cultures and promote equality. On this basis, we are building a cheerful and respectful culture in which everyone’s input is appreciated. Sustainability is included in all our operations.

Luke is looking for a Research Scientist, postdoc, boreal hydrology in changing climate, for a 3-year position. The task is related to hydrological modelling and data analysis, focusing on climate change impacts on managed boreal ecosystems.

Water availability will decline, and hydrological variability will intensify in rapidly warming Northern Europe. Water will thus become a central challenge – either as an enabler or a barrier – for the functionality, services, and resilience of terrestrial ecosystems, with direct implications for climate regulation. Hence, addressing the nexus between water and ecosystem services presents a significant challenge for achieving sustainable land use and management, offering interesting opportunities for high level and societally relevant science.

Hydrology is essential, for instance, for assessing climate change impacts on biomass growth and carbon sink, predicting drought risk and associated biotic disturbances, and developing climate change adaptation strategies in agriculture and forestry. Effective water and forest management strategies are also crucial for climate mitigation efforts and increasing forest productivity. Fair implementation of the EU restoration regulations requires the ability to predict the effects of hydrological restoration on ecosystem functions and greenhouse gas emissions.

To address these challenges, we aim to strengthen our hydrological expertise and enhance capabilities in predicting climate change impacts on managed boreal ecosystems. We are now seeking an expert to join our multi-disciplinary research team in this field.

Main duties and responsibilities are as follows:

1. Enhance Luke’s ability to model climate change impacts on water (and carbon) cycles up to the landscape level across forests, peatlands, and agricultural systems. This involves utilizing and advancing available climate data and process-based hydrological and ecosystem models.

2. Utilize semi-operational, high-resolution hydrological simulations on a supercomputing cluster at the national level. These simulations will predict hydrological fluxes and states, focusing on soil moisture, water table depth and runoff, leveraging open geospatial data and climate scenarios.

3. Evaluate the impacts of future hydroclimatic conditions on ecosystems, water resources and their management.

4. Engage in networking and collaboration across Luke, Finland, and EU-level projects, and contribute to national greenhouse gas inventory reporting improvements.

5. Publish the research outputs in high-level journals and open code repositories.

The research will be conducted in close collaboration with diverse research teams at Luke, the University of Helsinki, and the Digital Waters Flagship initiative (https://digitalwaters.fi/ ). This role also offers opportunities to participate in funding proposals, apply for personal research funding, and engage with stakeholders.

Our expectations of the applicant

* Recently completed doctoral degree (typically no more than 5 years ago) in a relevant field, such as physical or Earth system sciences, meteorology, hydrology, water-resource engineering, ecosystems ecology, or a related discipline.
* Knowledge of terrestrial water and carbon cycles.
* Have strong expertise in numerical, process-based modelling, scientific programming (e.g., Python, Julia), and working with large geospatial datasets (e.g., Sentinel/Modis, digital elevation models).
* Show experience in integrating models and multi-scale datasets (e.g., model evaluation, calibration, sensitivity analysis) and applying model simulations to research questions or practical applications.
* Possess system analytical and algorithmic thinking
* Demonstrate a curious and collaborative mindset, strong research motivation, and eagerness to apply your skills to diverse computational challenges.
* Possess a good command of English, with a proven track record of publishing in high-quality peer-reviewed journals.
* Exhibit the ability and willingness to work independently in a multidisciplinary research team while learning new skills.

Primarily, we request applicants to submit their applications electronically via the Valtiolle.fi service.
https://valtiolle.fi/en/jobs/research-scientist-postdoc-boreal-hydrology-in-a-changing-climate-16006/