The Norwegian Institute for Nature Research has a 2-year postdoctoral position vacant at the Department of Arctic Ecology located at the Fram Centre in Tromsø, Norway.

About the position

Norwegian Institute for Nature Research

NINA is Norway’s leading institution in applied ecological research and has approximately 270 employees. The Department of Arctic Ecology has ca. 30 research scientists, postdocs, PhD students and research assistants of numerous nationalities. More information about NINA and Tromsø can be found at www.nina.no .

The successful applicant will join the international team of researchers in the project VANWHITE: “The vanishing white: management of stressors causing reduction of pale vegetation surfaces in the Arctic and the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau”. The project is financed by the Research Council of Norway and by the National Natural Science Foundation of China.

VANWHITE will develop realistic strategies to maximize the climate-regulation ability of northern lands – especially pale, cold-adapted vegetation surfaces – for the benefit of local societies and the global community. This will require a more detailed knowledge on the role of arctic, subarctic and alpine terrestrial ecosystems in the climate system. This includes elucidation of the carbon economy and albedo of pale ecosystems in contrast to darker ecosystems, increased understanding of the past dynamics and current status of pale ecosystems, and identification of the major global and local stressors and their impacts on the climate-regulating capacity of these ecosystems.

Qualifications

The applicants should have completed a PhD-degree in terrestrial global change biology and/or associated subjects (e.g. land-climate feedbacks, remote sensing, general ecology). The candidate should be fluent in English and preferably also a Scandinavian language (oral and written) and should preferably also have experience with field work in arctic and/or alpine environments. The postdoctoral fellow will generate and analyze field and remotely sensed data relevant for understanding the role of arctic and alpine vegetation types in the local and global climate system. Knowledge on albedo and carbon measurements and non-vascular vegetation (lichens and bryophytes) is much welcomed but not a prerequisite. The project will involve field work in the Nordic Arctic Region including Svalbard. The fellow will also contribute to quantify the impacts of herbivores, human land use and air pollution on arctic land surfaces.

Host institution and international partner institution

The postdoctoral fellow will be based at NINA’s Department of Arctic Ecology at the Fram Centre in Tromsø. Under the auspices of the Norwegian Government, the Fram Centre is a nucleus for international polar science, policies and management (www.framsenteret.no). The research group in Tromsø includes three senior scientists, two PhD students and research partners at Uit – The Arctic University of Norway. In addition, the project consortium includes senior scientists in global change and environmental economics at Chinese, US and other Norwegian universities and institutions. A 6-month overseas stay at one of the partner universities should be expected.

NINA offers

• Salary will start on Norwegian pay scale level 66 (currently about 586 500 NOK annually).

• Good welfare, pension and insurance arrangements.

• Flexible working hours.

• A welcoming and inspiring working environment.• Beautiful surroundings

https://www.visitnorway.com/places-to-go/northern-norway/tromso/

Candidates should submit their application with references via e-mail to Siri Svendsen, siri.svendsen@nina.no, attaching the following:

• Letter of application describing the reasons why he or she is particularly suited for the position (maximum 500 words)

• CV, containing a complete overview of education, supervised professional training and professional work, including a list of scientific publications and scientific public outreach activities.

• Scans of certified copies of diploma for completed degrees. These must be in English or a Scandinavian language.

• PDF documents of PhD thesis, manuscripts not yet published and book chapters should be attached, while it is generally not necessary to attach PDFs of journal articles (but publication list should include DOI and/or URL to these publications). If PhD thesis is not ready by the application deadline (but will be complete soon, i.e. well before the tentative starting date), a draft version should be included, and it will be possible to submit the final thesis at a later stage.

Selected candidates will be invited for interview. We encourage all qualified candidates to apply, irrespective of gender, physical ability or cultural background.

Tentative starting date: 1 September 2019.

Further information about the position is available by contacting:

• Senior Researcher Dr Jarle W. Bjerke, e-mail jarle.bjerke@nina.no, tel +47 918 64 155

The application deadline is April 29, 2019.