Two Arctic Postdoctoral Researcher positions at the University of Eastern Finland

 Two Arctic Postdoctoral Researcher positions at the University of Eastern Finland

We look for two motivated postdoctoral researchers to join the project “Land use as a modulator of land cover transitions and the ecosystem–atmosphere carbon balance (LANDMOD)” that is associated with the Digital Geosciences Research Group at the University of Eastern Finland (Joensuu campus). LANDMOD is a multi-disciplinary project unraveling the impacts of land use on land cover changes and their consequences for the climate. We particularly look at reindeer management strategies as the type of land-use and focus on depicting land cover differences on wetlands. Our main objectives are 1) to contribute understanding of the rates, magnitudes and mechanisms of land cover changes under different reindeer management strategies and 2) to quantify how the differences in land cover reflect on the release and uptake of CO2 in a landscape level. Besides estimating the impact of land use today, we will also estimate the influence of past land use on the cumulative carbon balance. With these approaches, the project will contribute understanding on how and why the rates and magnitudes of land cover transitions vary at high latitudes in northern Fennoscandia, and how these feedback to the atmosphere. 

 In the project, we open two two-year postdoctoral researcher positions:

 1) Postdoctoral Researcher in Remote Sensing The postdoctoral researcher will be in charge of creating a detailed map of wetland vegetation under the contrasting reindeer grazing regimes, and by retrospectively examining past changes in land cover under the two grazing intensities through the use of satellite archives. The researcher will make use of available remote sensing imagery (e.g. Landsat, Sentinel-2, WorldView-3 and falsecolor aerial photographs) and collect and process new land cover data using unmanned aircraft systems (i.e. applying structure-from-motion methods and photogrammetry). Vegetation identification skills will be a merit. According to personal preference, the postdoctoral researcher will be provided the possibility to apply collected data in dynamic vegetation models (ArcVeg) or apply hyperspectral data classification and analysis to gain information on plant status. Besides LANDMOD activities, the postdoctoral researcher will be provided the opportunity to participate in the activities of an EU Horizon2020 funded project “Feedbacks and Drivers of Changes in Arctic Terrestrial Biodiversity (CHARTER)”.

 2) Postdoctoral Researcher in Ecosystem-Atmosphere Biogeochemistry The postdoctoral researcher will be in charge of performing ecosystem-atmosphere carbon exchange and energy balance measurements using a combination of eddy covariance technique and chamber measurements. The postdoctoral researcher will process ecosystem-scale carbon dioxide, latent and sensible heat fluxes, albedo and short-and long-wave radiation balances collected with the eddy covariance technology and calibrate these fluxes with ancillary data and plot-wise carbon exchange measurements from the same field site and from further areas across northern Fennoscandia. Experience in the processing of eddy covariance data will be required. 

 Both postdoctoral researchers will take part in an international research team and collaborate with Timo Kumpula (University of Eastern Finland), Henni Ylänne (University of Eastern Finland / Lund University), Natascha Kljun (Lund University), Oliver Sonnentag (Université de Montréal) and Christina Biasi (University of Eastern Finland).

 The positions are filled initially for a fixed term of two years from 1 May 2021 to 30 April 2023 (or as agreed) with a possibility of extension.

The application needs to be submitted no later than 25 February 2021 (by 24:00 Finnish time) using the electronic application form.

 For further information, please contact: Professor of Geography Timo Kumpula, Department of Geographical and Historical Studies (timo.kumpula@uef.fi) or Dr Henni Ylänne, School of Forest Sciences, University of Eastern Finland (henni.ylanne@uef.fi)

 Link to applications and electronic application submission:

https://www.uef.fi/en/open-positions

https://rekry.saima.fi/certiahome/open_job_view.html?did=5600&jc=16&id=000010454&lang=en