Post-doctoral Research Position

Simulating the carbon dynamics and greenhouse gas exchanges from whole ecosystem ‘best practices’ restoration.
A post-doctoral research position is available in the Department of Geography, McGill University (Montreal, Canada).  The research is attempting to adapt existing peatland ecosystem carbon models (McGill Wetland Model or wetland-DNDC) to simulate the changes in carbon dynamics that occur with the extraction of peat from pristine peatlands and various restoration strategies.  This research is being done in a collaborative project that is examining the changes in vegetation community structure, hydrology and the ecosystem – atmosphere exchanges of CO2 and CH4.  It is anticipated because of the physical changes to the peat profile that an energy – water balance model will have to be developed to replace the current land surface package that we coupled to MWM.  There will also have to be modifications to the vegetation and biogeochemistry components of MWM.
Candidates should have a PhD in earth or environmental sciences or related fields and a demonstrated strength in modelling ecosystem and/or biospheric – atmospheric interactions.  Experience with modelling the physical and ecological aspects of peatland and/or wetland ecosystems would be considered an asset.  An ability to work with models written in FORTRAN and/or C++ is highly desirable.
The successful candidate will have an opportunity to become a key collaborator among scientists at McGill University, Grenfell Campus of the Memorial University of Newfoundland, the University of Waterloo and the Université Laval, and with partners from industry and government.  They will be given an opportunity to visit the sites in Quebec and Alberta where we are doing our detailed empirical studies on the carbon balance and greenhouse emissions from restored peatlands. The position is for 2 years and depending of qualifications the salary will be at or above $42,000/year.
To apply for this position send in an e-mail with the subject heading “PDF application for peatland restoration modelling) a covering letter, your curriculum vitae, and the names and contact information for three references to Professor Nigel Roulet (nigel.roulet@mcgill.ca<mailto:nigel.roulet@mcgill.ca>) and Dr. Jianghua Wu (jwu@grenfell.mun.ca<mailto:jwu@grenfell.mun.ca>).  We will begin to review applications August 1st and continue until the position is filled.