Job title : Researcher in Numerical Ecology
Reference: PV-2019-058
Department/Office : Département Oceanographie et Dynamique des Ecosystemes
Unité de recherche Dynamique des Ecosystèmes Côtiers
Laboratoire Ecologie Benthique Côtière
Duty station: Brest, Bretagne, FR , France
Starting date on the job :
Deadline for applications : 10/04/2019
The Institute and the recruiting departement
French Research Institute for Exploitation of the Sea, Ifremer, through its research work and expert advice, contributes to knowledge of the oceans and their resources, to monitoring of marine and coastal environments and to the sustainable development of marine activities. To these ends, Ifremer conceives and operates tools for observation, experimentation and monitoring, and manage the oceanographic databases.
Created in 1984, Ifremer is a French public institute of an industrial and commercial nature. It is supervised jointly by the Ministry of Higher Education and Research and the Ministry of the Environment, Energy and Marine Affairs.
Ifremer undertakes research missions, offers expert advice and acts as a funding agency.
Ifremer performs targeted applied research to address the questions posed by society (climate change effects, marine biodiversity, pollution prevention, seafood quality etc.). Results include scientific knowledge, technological innovations, and systems for ocean observation and exploration. Partnerships may be public, private or a combination of the two.
Ifremer works in a network with the French scientific community, also collaborating with international partner organizations, in the frame of several national and international projects, including contractual activities.
Description de l’offre:
The recruiting department
DYNECO (Dynamics of Coastal Ecosystems) research unit is part of the ODE « Oceanography and Ecosystems Dynamic » Department. Its main objective is to study how coastal ecosystems respond to anthropogenic or natural pressures. DYNECO conducts scientific activities and expert assessments in this field. DYNECO strategy relies on the analysis of physical, biogeochemical, and biological processes and is based on experimentations, in-situ observations and modelling. The main research areas are related to: i) dissolved and particulate matter fluxes within marine coastal ecosystems, ii) diversity and functioning of ecological communities and of their habitats, iii) perturbations at the population scales. Within DYNECO, the Coastal Benthic Ecology Laboratory (LEBCO) focuses on the explanation of structures and associated functionalities of benthic coastal ecosystems and the Pelagic Ecology Laboratory (PELAGOS) deals with biogeochemical fluxes, dynamics and functional diversity of plankton communities, with special interest in toxic microalgae, in response to anthropogenic pressures.
Numerical ecology has been developing to test and apply theories in ecology and help analyzing complex datasets made of heterogeneous data, e.g. remote sensing, monitoring surveys, outputs of mathematical models, meteorological and climatic drivers, molecular ecology, etc. Applications deal with ecological niche, changes in spatial distribution, phenology of target species and long-term changes of communities in relation to global change. As a numerical ecologist, the scientist will work in collaboration with DYNECO benthos and plankton ecologists to address these scientific issues along the lines of DYNECO research roadmap and the new Ifremer strategic plan.
General areas of responsibility
The scientist will contribute to a better understanding and assessment of ecological changes. By developing and applying innovative statistical tools and using data collected within Ifremer monitoring surveys and scientific projects, he/she will address key ecological questions in the context of global change and ecological forecasting.
Main activities
The scientist will develop original research projects with other scientists working on benthos and plankton ecology and more specifically:
- Develop and analyze indicators of coastal ecosystem functioning accounting for the spatial and temporal patterns of species assemblages, genetic and functional diversity,
- Apply statistical methods to analyze within- and between species interactions and contribute to the formulation of deterministic ecological models regarding population/community,
- Model spatial distribution and temporal succession of species and functional groups, identify the effect of environmental drivers and predict the responses to global changes,
- Develop and prospect new statistical methods and tools of interest for applications in marine ecology, e.g. deep learning methods.
To carry out these tasks, he/she write proposals, participate to research projects and (co-) supervise Master students, PhD students and post-doctoral scientists in collaboration with DYNECO ecologists. He/she will develop national and international collaborations and communicate his findings by writing papers in international scientific journals and presenting his results in international conferences. He will contribute to Ifremer support of public policy through his expertise in his field of research.
Collaborative work environment
- Internal collaborative relationship : benthos and plankton ecologists in DYNECO and other research units (Unité Littoral, EMH, etc.), and interactions with other relevant disciplines (e.g. physical oceanographs, sedimentologists, etc.),
- External collaborative relationship : national and international collaborations with Universities, Research Institutes and groups of research involved in numerical ecology.
Profil recherché
PhD in Ecology or Statistics with strong experience in numerical ecology.
Required knowledge, skills and characteristics
- Knowledge, skills and abilities
– Strong background in Statistics, data analysis and ecology
– Experience in programming with softwares such as R
– Good writing skills
– Good English writing and speaking skills.
– Motivation for working in a team and for student supervision
– Capacity to propose and explore new ideas
– Scientific rigor, organizational and communication skills.
How to apply for this full-time position
Deadline for applications: 10/04/2019
All applications are processed exclusively via our website.
Interested candidates can apply by clicking the “Apply” button.
https://ifremer-en.jobs.net/job/researcher-in-numerical-ecology/J3V4JD6LWC1TLSQPCMX
