The Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (BiK-F) invites applications for a Postdoctoral Position in Biodiversity-Society Conflicts of Wolves Returning to Germany.

We seek a post-doctoral researcher bridging social and natural sciences. The candidate will work on biodiversity-society conflicts related to the return of wolves to Germany. Experience in questionnaire and interview methods as well as stakeholder workshops are advantageous. A background in one of the following areas is desirable: social science, wildlife ecology, environmental economics, environmental and sustainability studies, psychology, or a related field. In addition, we expect a strong quantitative skill set. Knowledge in contingent valuation methods, multi-criteria decision analyses and management strategy evaluations or related analyses area a plus. German language skills are important. The project is a collaborative effort among researchers from Senckenberg, the University of Stirling,  LUPUS - German Institute for Wolf Monitoring and Research, ISOE - Institute for Social Ecological Research Frankfurt, and the University of Vienna. The candidate is expected to closely collaborate with colleagues from these institutions.

Position requirements:

• PhD in a relevant field
• strong publication record
• research experience in interdisciplinary working environments
• excellent oral and written communication skills

Salary and benefits are based on a public service position in Germany (TV-H E 13). The position will be for 3 years. SGN is an equal opportunity employer. Equally qualified handicapped applicants will be given preference. The place of employment will be Frankfurt am Main, Germany. The employer is the Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung. Please send your application via e-mail in a single PDF file. Please include the reference to this position (# 9.2.16) in the subject line. Include a cover letter describing your motivation to apply, a detailed CV including a list of your publications, names of two references, and copies of your 3 most important publications by May, 22nd 2016 to:

Jun.-Prof. Dr. Thomas Müller
c/o Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung
Senckenberganlage 25
60325 Frankfurt
E-Mail: [email protected]

For scientific enquiries please contact: Jun.-Prof. Dr. Thomas Mueller ([email protected])

The Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (BiK-F) invites applications for a Senior Scientist Position (tenure track) in Interdisciplinary Biodiversity & Society Research. Candidates must have a strong background in interdisciplinary research that addresses societal challenges in regards to biodiversity. Possible research fields include social-ecological systems, human well-being, ecosystem services, ecological economics, and related research areas. We expect strong quantitative skills or a background in empirical social research.

You will have the opportunity to develop your own research program. We also expect you to collaborate with social scientists and natural scientists at SGN, Goethe University Frankfurt, and the Institute for Social-Ecological Research (ISOE) in Frankfurt.

Your profile:

• PhD degree in a relevant field
• strong publication record
• ability to generate third-party funding
• research experience in interdisciplinary working environments
• excellent oral and written communication skills

Salary and benefits are based on a public service position in Germany (TV-H E 13 – E 14). The position will be initially restricted to 3 years, with a possible extension for an additional 3 years and an option for a permanent contract after that (tenure track). SGN is an equal opportunity employer. Equally qualified handicapped applicants will be given preference. The place of employment will be Frankfurt am Main, Germany. The employer is the Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung.

Please send your application via e-mail in a single PDF file. Please include the reference to this position (# 9.1.16) in the subject line. Include a cover letter describing your motivation to apply, a detailed CV including a list of your publications, names of two references, and copies of your 5 most important publications by May, 8th 2016 to:

Prof. Dr. Katrin Böhning-Gaese
c/o Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung
Senckenberganlage 25
60325 Frankfurt
E-Mail: [email protected]

For scientific enquiries please contact: Jun.-Prof. Dr. Thomas Mueller ([email protected])

(Source: http://www.es-partnership.org/esp/84221/8/0/50)

Project description

The PhD student will work in the NWO-Green project: “Vital soils for sustainable intensification of agriculture”. A key challenge for sustainable intensification of agriculture is to produce increasing amounts of food, feed and bioenergy, with minimal loss of biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. Organic farming is supposed to have less negative impacts on soil biotic and abiotic properties resulting in more stable ecosystem functioning than conventional agricultural practices. However, conversion of conventional into more sustainable organic systems takes time and is often accompanied by a yield gap in the first years.

In this project we aim to unravel how soil biological, chemical and physical properties change during the transition from conventional to organic farming systems, in order to understand the mechanisms underlying high yields and stability in long-term organically managed agricultural fields. This knowledge will allow us to test if and how the transition from conventional to organic agriculture can be accelerated. We will identify factors that can predict successful conversion and can serve as indicators for vital soils for sustainable intensification of agriculture. Within the project, the PhD student will study soil ecological processes and will collaborate closely in joint experiments with a PhD student based at Wageningen University focusing on soil chemistry and physics and a Postdoc on molecular soil ecology. Practical work will include detailed spatial soil sampling in long-term field experiments and famer’s fields, along with microcosm experiments in greenhouses.

Funding

The “Vital soils” project is funded by the Green-program of the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO).

Requirements

• Strong motivation and enthusiasm
• MSc degree in (soil) ecology, or a related field
• Research experience or demonstrated affinity with soil ecology, field and greenhouse experiments, soil chemistry analyses, molecular identification and quantification technology
• Experience with (spatial) data/statistical analysis
• Good communicative skills (fluency in English required)
• Driving license

Appointment

This is a temporary appointment, fulltime. PhD projects are 4-year appointments starting with a 1-year contract. After 1 year progress will be evaluated.

Salary

The gross salary starts at € 2.174,00 per month in the 1st year, and will gradually increase to a maximum of € 2.779,00 per month in the 4th year, scale P, Collective Agreement for Dutch Universities (CAO Nederlandse Universiteiten), plus 8% holiday pay and a year-end bonus. We offer an extensive package of fringe benefits.

Information

Additional information about this vacancy is available upon request from Prof. W.H. van der Putten (tel. 0317-473599, e-mail: [email protected]), dr. M. Schrama (email: [email protected]) or dr. G.F. Veen, (tel: 0317-473610, email: [email protected]). Information on the Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO) can be found at http://www.nioo.knaw.nl.

Applications

Written applications for this position should include names of at least two referees, which we may want to consult. Please send your application letter and CV by e-mail to: [email protected] with reference to vacancy number PhD-TE-015038. Deadline for the application is April 17 2016.

For details, see the PDF file (link below).

Symposium organised by the European Ecological Federation (EEF) and ALTER-Net partner, the Helmholtz Centre of Environmental Research – UFZ.

There is a call for talks and posters at this event.

In 1866 Ernst Haeckel defined Ecology as the science of the interactions among organisms and their abiotic conditions. 150 year later, this concept is still of increasing importance in the present discussion on the effects of Global change on organisms and ecosystems, as well as on the role of anthropogenic selection factors on evolution in general and microevolution in detail.

This symposium is the opening ceremony of a series of events celebrating the 150th anniversary of the concept of ecology throughout Europe. The series of events will end in September with the annual meeting of the Ecological Society of Gemany, Austria and Switzerland, which is entitled "150 years of ecology - learning for the future".

The main aim of the symposium in Leipzig is to discuss the most important steps of the development of ecology and the consequences for future research to meet the challenges of the Anthropocene. The present developments in Ecophysiology, Evolutionary Ecology, Biogeography and Ecology itself will be discussed by Keynote speakers as e.g. Joshtrom Kureethadam, University Pontifica Salesiana, Stan Harpole, German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv/UFZ); Luc De Meester, University Leuven; Kurt Jax, Helmholtz-Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ), Hans Van Dyck, Université catholique de Louvaine. Additionally, in working groups we address the future scientific challenges in the given fields of research as well as the interdisciplinary benefits for Ecology and contributions (15 min) by participants are very much appreciated.

We aim to publish the keynotes, symposium contributions and the overall workshop results in an Ecological book series.

We cordially want to invite you to join this symposium and discuss with experts the main steps of the development of ecology and the consequences for future research to meet the challenges of the Anthropocene.

This workshop will have a capacity of 120 participants, therefore please register (free of charge) in time to ensure your participation:

http://www.ecology150anniversary.net/en_US/event/the-150th-anniversary-of-the-ecology-concept/

Oral or poster presentations are welcome!

For any further questions concerning the symposium please contact [email protected]

We are looking forward to welcoming you here in Leipzig to make the symposium an interesting and fruitful event celebrating the 150^th Anniversary of Ecology.

The Natura 2000 Communication Platform is maintained by ALTER-Net partner ECNC-European Centre for Nature Conservation, with assistance from two other ALTER-Net partners (Centre for Ecology and Hydrology and ILE-SAS) and other consortium partners (Arcadis Belgium and Aspen International), under contract to the European Commission.

A full conference website with an online registration facility will go live by 31 January 2016.

Network representatives are requested to kindly circulate the call and to give it prominence on their websites.

Check out the Expert-in-training programme enabling trainees to develop and strengthen their taxonomic research skills through on-the-job-training and the Modern Taxonomy programme offering intensive theoretical courses in various subjects.

For course registration deadlines see the DEST website.

Instructor: Dr. Klaus Langohr (Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Spain).

The course aims to give an introduction to basic statistical methods for epidemiology. The topics treated in the course will be the following:

1. Design of epidemiological studies: cohort studies, case-control studies, and cross-sectional studies.
2. Epidemiological measures of disease frequency and exposure-disease association.
3. Sources of bias in epidemiological studies: information, selection, and confounding bias.
4. Bias control: stratification and matching.
5. Logistic regression.

After the completion of the course, the participants should have acquired basic knowledge on these topics and should be able to apply the corresponding methods to real data. For this purpose, theory sessions will be accompanied by practical exercises with the statistical software R.

This course will be held in the Sabadell facilities of the Institut Català de Paleontologia (Barcelona, Spain) and is organized by Transmitting Science and the Institut Catalá de Paleontologia M. Crusafont. Place are limited and will be covered by strict registration order.

More information: http://www.transmittingscience.org/courses/stats/epidemiology/

Applicants should hold a doctoral degree in physics, chemistry, microbiology, geosciences, environmental sciences or a related field of science. They should be familiar with modelling biogeochemical interactions between ecosystems and capable to further develop existing numerical ecosystem models. Programming skills (C) and modelling experience are therefore mandatory. Knowledge of R and of Unix/Linux environment will be an advantage. The candidate should have good written and oral communication skills. For work, good skills in the English language will be essential.

The project

Terrestrial and marine ecosystems are connected through groundwater, river discharge and nutrient outflows (especially N and P). River catchments in the Mediterranean are N-intensive regions, mostly due to intensive agriculture in the North and to crop N₂ fixation or food & feed import in the South. The fraction of nutrient reaching the sea constitutes significant anthropogenic forcing of many marine biological processes. For simulating the dynamics of the first levels of the marine food web (from nutrients to jellyfishes), the ocean biogeochemical model, Eco3M-MED, used and developed by the Mediterranean Institute of Oceanography (MIO) within OT-Med, currently uses N and P measurements at river mouths, e.g. for the Rhône.

In order to estimate the impacts of global change on the functioning of marine ecosystems, the project aims at modeling the dependency of N and P outflows to the Mediterreanean sea toward land management. Land management is modelled as part of the agro-ecosystem model LPJmL (Bondeau et al., 2007), that has been especially adapted to the Mediterranean cropping systems (Fader et al., 2015). Among others, LPJmL simulates the daily carbon and water cycles, and the river discharges to the sea. Following existing approaches in the scientific literature, the post-doc will implement the nutrient N and P transfer in LPJmL, covering the net nutrient inputs to the river catchments by accounting for the processes occurring at the agro-ecosystem level (N₂ biological fixation, fertilization, atmospheric deposition) and the net food and feed imports. Since only a minor fraction of the net nutrient inputs from Mediterranean basins reaches the sea, the retention along the nutrient cascade will have to be added to the LPJmL river routing scheme, similarly to the method used by the Riverstrahler model. Once the nutrient transfers have been introduced into LPJmL, simulations will be validated using current climate and land use forcing for comparisons with the existing observations from river outlets. Finally, future conditions will be assessed by using the model with scenarios of changing regional climate and land use / land management.

Your application

Applications should contain a suitable motivation letter describing your anticipated role in the project, a CV, a list of scientific publications and the names of at least two scientists that can be contacted for references. They must be sent to Ms. Gabriela Boéri ([email protected]). Please prepare your application as a single file in pdf-format.

Questions about the project or the position can be directed to Dr. Alberte Bondeau ([email protected]). The position will be filled as soon as a suitable candidate has been found – work should start soon after that date. The salary and contract conditions will be determined according to standards set by Aix-Marseille University – questions in this regard can be directed to Sophie Pekar ([email protected]).

ALTER-Net Summer Schools have been running since 2006 and offer students a unique opportunity to learn about current issues in biodiversity and ecosystem services. Open to young graduate and post-graduate scientists from both within and outside the network partners, the Summer School provides an innovative atmosphere for thinking about and resolving the sustainability challenges that society is currently facing. Our Summer School aims at contributing to the durable integration and spread of excellence within and beyond the network, with a view to promoting interdisciplinary approaches.

You can follow the Summer School on Social media:

Twitter - hashtag #ALTERNetSummerSchool

Facebook - visit the 10th Summer School Facebook page

Photoblog - watch out for photo posts by students, tutors and speakers on WordPress blog site.

eLTER is a major project that will help advance the development of European Long-Term Ecosystem Research infrastructures. It brings together the existing LTER-Europe network of research sites and European Critical Zone Observatories (CZO). 162 sites in 22 countries will provide data on long-term trends in environmental change. Test cases using these data will address a range of environmental and social issues to push innovation in network level services and steer conceptual developments.

eLTER has 28 partners, It is being led by ALTER-Net partner the Austrian Environment Agency (Umweltbundesamt), and also involves these ALTER-Net members: SYKE (Finland), CNRS (France), UFZ (Germany), MI-PAN-ERCE (Poland), SLU (Sweden), NERC-CEH (UK), INBO (Belgium), MTA-OK (Hungary), UNIBUC (Romania), ILE-SAS (Slovakia), CSIC (Spain)

To find out more, visit http://www.lter-europe.net/projects/eLTER. You can also stay in touch via Twitter and/or  e-newsletter:

@eLTER_EU

The researchers are preparing a strategic paper with the tentative title "Mountains for Europe’s Future", which should be ready by early 2016. This will be presented at the Roundtable "Key research themes for European mountains" at the "Mountains of our Future Earth Conference" at Perth in October 2015, and then fed into the Horizon 2020 consultation process to influence the 2018-2019 work programmes.

The group are also asking people with an interest in mountain research to complete a short online questionnaire by 25th June. A blog post “Mountains for Europe’s future: Putting mountains on the Horizon 2020 agenda” provides more background information about this project.