PhD Candidate in Ecosystem Response to Tundra Fires at the Plant Ecology and Nature Conservation Group

Jul 2, 2025

Website Wageningen University and Research

Function
Are you enthusiastic about understanding climate feedback processes in tundra ecosystems? Are you enthusiastic to conduct field- and remote sensing-based monitoring for impactful science? We are looking for a pro-active, analytical and self-motivated PhD candidate to contribute to our understanding of fire impacts on vegetation and carbon emissions in a rapidly warming Arctic. You will work on satellite image analysis and field inventories of ecosystem responses to tundra fires in remote Arctic sites. You will work at the Plant Ecology and Nature Conservation group (PEN) and collaborate with researchers in the Meteorology & Air Quality Group and colleagues at various other institutes. Your project will be embedded in the EMBRACER consortium.

About EMBRACER
At EMBRACER we work at the very frontiers of knowledge on climate change, Earth’s climate system and climate feedbacks. Within its 10-year research programme, funded by NWO, EMBRACER brings together a wide range of world-leading climate experts with the aim to address existing uncertainties about climate feedbacks at the boundaries between oceans, land, ice, and atmosphere. Our interdisciplinary approach and state-of-the-art infrastructure will bring us forward in our understanding of the impact of climate feedbacks emerging over the next decades to centuries.

Your tasks will consist of:

  • Analysis of satellite images and climate data to study occurrence of tundra fires and subsequent regreening across climatic gradients;
  • Remote fieldwork in fire-affected and pristine tundra in the Sisimiut – Kangerlussuaq region, in an interdisciplinary team;
  • Vegetation surveys, soil physical monitoring and carbon flux observations;
  • State-of-the art analysis of spatio-temporal and ecological data;
  • Collaboration with researchers and (BSc/MSc) students from a variety of disciplinary backgrounds;

This is a fixed-term position of 18 months (1.0 fte), which will be extended to 48 months if you perform well.

 

 

 

 

To apply for this job please visit www.connexys.nl.