Land Use Emissions Scenario Modeller

We are seeking a Postdoctoral Researcher to help develop our research on how to achieve a Just Transition pathway to achieve Net Zero and biodiversity targets in the agricultural sector, particularly in livestock systems. The post will be within the ‘Just transformation of food-farming systems: reconciling net zero and other land-use ambitions (JUSTLANZ)’ project. JUSTLANZ aims to develop transformative pathways for a just transition to net zero for the UK farming-food sector, considering local, regional and national priorities. The post will help answer the research question ‘How do climate change impacts and multiple policy objectives affect land use and GHG emissions?’.

You should have a PhD directly relevant to either policy appraisal and scenario development, preferably in the spatial context of land use and / or expertise in spatial analysis and willingness to undertake policy appraisal research. Knowledge of modelling approaches and high levels of technical capability to undertake large and complex data analyses will be highly advantageous, as will evidence of high-quality scientific publications . You should also have experience in working and communicating with scientists from multiple disciplines.

All individuals wishing to work within the UK must be entitled to do so before they can be employed.

Further information is available from www.hutton.ac.uk/careers. 

Main Purpose of Job

The purpose of the post is to create top-down scenarios based on current policies affecting land and integrate these with spatially derived climate change impacts scenarios. This will enable connectivity between national-scale objectives with local context specific land capabilities. This approach will build on existing food security-based scenarios but will be expanded to incorporate consideration of devolved government policies, priorities for net zero, biodiversity and ecosystem services. These scenarios and transformational pathway narratives will be informed by high resolution spatial modelling of the impacts of climate change on primary production (generated by colleagues within JUSTLANZ). The postholder’s task will be to integrate the policy scenarios with the impacts modelling to develop better informed transformative pathway narratives. The post will also require close collaboration with research teams at Cambridge (GHG accounting) and Leeds (biodiversity assessment) universities and the RSPB (spatial scenario modelling). Outputs from the post will be utilised in farmer engagement activities within JUSTLANZ.

The overall aim is to help in identifying trade-offs and synergies at different spatial levels, evaluating ways in which the livestock sector might contribute to meeting net zero emissions and biodiversity targets without adversely affecting food security and ecosystem functions whilst in the context of a Just Transition. The ideal candidate is someone who can integrate across research disciplines to undertake high quality policy appraisal and scenario development and integrating knowledge on climate change impacts on agriculture at a range of spatial scales.

Main Duties of Postholder

• To collate, appraise and summarise existing government policies affecting land and land use, emissions, biodiversity and ecosystems.
• Review existing scenario approaches and develop refined scenarios and transformative pathway narratives considering the land use related policies. This will include collaboration with colleagues in Land Use for Net Zero Hub.
• Collaborate with climate change impacts modellers (Hutton Institute) and spatial scenario modellers (RSPB) to integrate the spatial context of impacts on primary production (grass, crops for livestock feed) with the refined scenarios and pathway narratives to create high spatial resolution scenarios for local context assessment.
• Collaborate with GHG accounting tool development colleagues (Cambridge University) to incorporate emissions consequences of land use changes into the scenarios.
• Collaborate with biodiversity impacts assessments colleagues (Leeds University) to integrate biodiversity consequences into scenarios.
• Publish high-quality peer reviewed scientific papers.
• Communicate research results to a range of audiences (e.g., policy makers, practitioners, the public) in appropriate formats.

Person Specification

Education/Experience/Skills

Essential

• Qualifications: PhD in a relevant subject.
• Experience:
  • Experience, preferably at the Post-Doc level, in scenario development and policy appraisal.
  • Use of GIS tools for spatial analysis.
  • Evidence of inter-disciplinary research.
  • A track record of high-quality scientific manuscript preparation and publication.
• Skills:
  • Knowledge of the policy environment in the context of land and GHG emissions.
  • Computer programming/coding: knowledge of appropriate languages, particularly R or  Python.
  • Data manipulation, statistical and analytical assessment.
• Other skills and attributes:
  • Integrative skills with a willingness to work as part of a team.
  • Knowledge of GHG emissions: sources and opportunities for mitigation.
  • Understanding of the Just Transition concept.
  • Ability to see the wider picture and translate real-world questions into researchable forms addressable by the planned work.
  • Ability to plan work and delivery to set schedules.
  • Ability to work at pace and to deadlines.

Desirable

• Experience:
  • Knowledge of climate change impacts on land and land uses, water and biodiversity.
• Skills:
  • Computer programming and technical: use of computing clusters and HPC, and databases.
• Other Skills:
  • Experience of working in multi-disciplinary collaborations.
  • Knowledge of agrometeorology and climate, agricultural systems, particularly the livestock sector.
  • Knowledge of soils and their properties and processes.
  • Ability to communicate research results to a range of audiences (particularly within industry and/or policy) in appropriate formats.
  • Understanding of UK geography and ecosystems.

Other Skills

• Willingness to travel and work for short periods in other research organisations.

Additional notes/Requirements

• The post will require working at the Aberdeen site but with periods in Cambridge and Leeds.