Applications are invited for a fixed-term three-year post-doctoral research associate position to conduct a detailed evaluation of the spatial and temporal dynamics of fire at the Andean treeline, and a quantification of their carbon emissions. This work is funded by the UK Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and will be part of a large on-going multi-partner research project working on the impacts of climate change in the eastern Andean slopes and nearby lowland Amazon. The position will be based in the Ecosystems Dynamics Group of the Environmental Change Institute, School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford. It will involve close collaboration with partners in the Andean project (Wake Forest University (USA), University of Edinburgh (UK), Universidad San Antonio Abad del Cusco (Peru)). The research position is from June 2009 or as soon as possible thereafter, and will involve focusing on an intensive study region in the southern Peruvian Andes where the project will determine the environmental controls on fire ignition and spread, quantify the carbon emissions and recovery times associated with specific fires, and evaluate the potential of remote sensing data to scale up fire emissions to the wider Andean region. The successful candidate will have a PhD in a quantitative environmental science, remote sensing and GIS skills, availability and enthusiasm to spend 3-5 months each year in Peru and proficiency in Spanish or a clear ability to rapidly become proficient and excellent field leadership. You will also be required to have communication and mentoring skills and a high level of organisation and self-discipline to manage a complex and varied field programme, and to organise and maintain data collected. The successful candidate will employ a number of skills ranging from satellite detection of fires and fire scars, to field studies of the impact of fires on vegetation and carbon stocks
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