University of Reading

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Homepage: https://koppa-lab.com/

The Department of Geography and Environmental Science at the University of Reading seeks a Postdoctoral Research Associate to join LAMDA (Land–atmosphere interactions as a mechanism of dryland formation), a project funded by a European Research Council (ERC) Starting Grant and led by Dr Akash Koppa. LAMDA will develop a new theory of how humid regions turn into drylands. Specifically, it will combine paleoclimatic reconstructions with Earth system, ecosystem demographics, and atmospheric transport models to trace how drylands, vegetation, and land–atmosphere fluxes have co-evolved since 850 CE.

You will lead research in one or more of three directions: (a) constraining Earth system model simulations of the last millennium with paleoclimatic proxy records through data assimilation, (b) quantifying how the function, structure, and demography of vegetation respond to long-term drying and feed back to the atmosphere, and (c) assessing how human modification of the land surface, such as deforestation, afforestation, and irrigation, changes the rate at which drylands form. You will run model simulations on high-performance computing facilities, publish as lead author, and help supervise PhD students in the group. The post also offers close collaboration with research groups at the University of Bern and Ghent University, including extended research stays.

You will have:

• A PhD (or near completion) in atmospheric science, climate science, Earth system science, ecology, hydrology, physical geography, physics, or a closely related field
• Specialist knowledge in paleoclimatic data assimilation and Earth system modelling, vegetation–climate interactions and ecosystem demography, or land use and land cover change and its effects on regional climate
• Experience of developing or applying numerical models of the Earth system, vegetation, or atmosphere
• Proficiency in scientific programming (for example Python, Julia, or Fortran) and in the analysis of large gridded datasets
• A record of peer-reviewed publications appropriate to career stage, including first-author papers

For further details and instructions for application, please follow this link.

If you have any questions, please contact Dr. Akash Koppa: a.koppa@reading.ac.uk