Context And Mission
This position is hosted by the Climate Variability and Change (CVC) Group within BSC’s Earth Science Department. The CVC Group undertakes fundamental research to (1) understand climate variability and change, including for climate extremes, (2) investigate global biogeochemical dynamics, effectiveness and impacts of carbon removal technologies to mitigate climate change, (3) develop new Earth System modeling capabilities, and (4) improve our ability to forecast the climate variations from one month to multiple decades into the future, both at global and regional scales.
The research position is framed into the European projects LANDMARC (https://www.landmarc2020.eu/) and RESCUE (https://rescue-climate.eu/) and the Spanish national project CDRESM. LANDMARC explores the potentials for land-based climate change mitigation, the RESCUE project aims to improve knowledge and understanding in climate and Earth System responses to climate neutrality and net negative emissions and CDRESM aims to implement land and ocean-based negative emission technologies in the EC-Earth3-CC model. This position will also contribute to the 4C (https://4c-carbon.eu/) project, which aims to establish near-term prediction systems of climate and atmospheric CO2 growth rate to assist the implementation of the Paris agreement.
The successful applicant will be responsible for a process-based evaluation of the vegetation and carbon fluxes of the EC-Earth3-CC model. The assessment will involve the comparison of extensive observational data bases with dedicated historical simulations and near-term predictions performed by the CVC group. The applicant will also study the contribution of vegetation and land-use change to atmospheric CO2 variability and its predictability. The applicant will further contribute to the implementation of Land-based Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) techniques in the EC-Earth3-CC model, including the future effects of different LMTs on the global carbon cycle and key atmospheric processes. The candidate will contribute to scientific planning and development of the next generation of the EC-Earth ESM, version 4.
Key Duties
- Contribute to the implementation of Land-based CDR techniques in the EC-Earth3-CC ESM
- Perform and analyze the experiments with the EC-Earth3-CC model using LMT scenarios developed in the LANDMARC and RESCUE projects
- Analyze the contributions of vegetation and land-use change to projections and near-time predictions of the global carbon cycle
- Lead the preparation of scientific publications and grants
- Closely collaborate with scientists within the Climate Variability and Change Group and other groups of the Earth Sciences Department
Requirements
Education
- PhD in ecology, forestry, atmospheric or climate science, or a related discipline
Essential Knowledge and Professional Experience
- Experience in working with Dynamic Vegetation Models and/or Land-use change models. Experience with LPJ-GUESS is highly valued.
- Proven ability to publish manuscripts to peer-reviewed scientific journals
Well-established scientific network in vegetation, land-use and climate modelling - A demonstrated ability to analyse climate and vegetation data
- Programming skills: scripting (e.g. bash, Python), programming (e.g. Fortran, C++) data analysis and visualization software (e.g. CDO, NCO, R, Python, QGis)
- Well-established scientific network in vegetation, land-use and/or climate modelling
Additional Knowledge and Professional Experience
- Interest and capacity in participating in the preparation of research and computing proposals
- Knowledge of version control systems (git, svn, cvs…)
- Interest in tutoring and/or advising master and PhD students
- Previous postdoctoral experience will be valued
Competences
- Fluency in spoken and written English, while fluency in other European languages will be also valued
- Highly collaborative spirit and ability to work independently and as part of a large, strongly-coordinated team and to continuously share both knowledge and tools
Conditions
- The position will be located at BSC within the Earth Sciences Department
- We offer a full-time contract, a good working environment, a highly stimulating environment with state-of-the-art infrastructure, flexible working hours, extensive training plan, restaurant tickets, private health insurance, support to the relocation procedures
- Duration: Open-ended contract due to technical and scientific activities linked to the project and budget duration
- Salary: we offer a competitive salary commensurate with the qualifications and experience of the candidate and according to the cost of living in Barcelona
- Starting date: Asap