Post doc in Arctic plant-soil interactions

The Department of Environmental Science is one of the largest departments at the Faculty of Science of Stockholm University. Our research spans from couplings between climate change and biogeochemical cycles (atmosphere-land-ocean) to the sources, transport and effects of environmental contaminants. The department consists of four units with more than 170 researchers, PhD students, technical and administrative staff from over 30 countries. We are deeply engaged also in the Bolin Centre for Climate Research, a national center of excellence that facilitates research, teaching and outreach related to the Earth’s climate across disciplines.

Research in the Biogeochemistry Unit focuses on the cycles of carbon, nutrients and trace metals on land, in water and in the atmosphere, and their interaction with human activities and climate. The unit has a strong and long-standing research focus on the impact of global warming on Arctic environments with the overarching goal to improve the systems understanding and future projections of biogeochemical cycles in this system.

Job description:

Climate warming is rapidly changing Arctic environments. The consequences can already now be observed, and include permafrost thaw, increased microbial degradation of soil organic matter to CO2 and other greenhouse gases, but also wide-spread stimulation of plant primary production and CO2 uptake, deeper plant rooting and shifts in vegetation distribution. In addition, plants can accelerate decomposition of soil organic matter decomposition near their roots to CO2 (“rhizosphere priming effect”), and this effect might substantially enhance Arctic CO2 emissions (Keuper & Wild et al. 2020 Nature Geoscience).

The advertized position will be associated with the ERC Starting Grant project PRIMETIME that aims to quantify total plant impacts on CO2 emissions from a warming Arctic, using a combination of experimental and upscaling approaches (https://www.su.se/english/research/research-projects/primetime-rhizosphere-priming-quantifying-plant-impacts-on-co2-emissions-from-a-warming-arctic).

The first part of PRIMETIME focused on new experiments targeting plant-soil carbon allocation and priming, and first publications are in preparation. We are now launching the second part, connecting experimental data with large-scale databases to provide estimates of how plants influence soil CO2 fluxes over large scales. The post doc will lead this upscaling work, in close collaboration with other post docs and PhD students working on related topics. The work could go in different directions, for instance generating an updated circum-Arctic priming estimate, developing local-scale priming estimates and validating these against observations from monitoring sites, testing the impact of different climate change scenarios, expanding priming estimates to a global scale, etc. One possibility is to build on the published PrimeSCale model for upscaling (Keuper & Wild et al. 2020 Nature Geoscience); this model requires only simple coding skills in R, Matlab or Python. Other approaches are also possible and encouraged, and the post doc is expected to bring in own ideas on the research they want to do. The post doc might also be involved in bachelor and master thesis supervision as well as teaching if interested. Part-time home office work is possible, upon agreement. For more information, please contact Ass. Prof. Dr. Birgit Wild (birgit.wild@aces.su.se).

How to apply:

Apply for the position at Stockholm University’s recruitment system:
https://www.su.se/english/about-the-university/work-at-su/available-jobs?rmpage=job&rmjob=24099&rmlang=UK

Please include the following information with your application

• Your contact details and personal data
• Your highest degree
• Your language skills
• Contact details for 2–3 references

and, in addition, please include the following documents

• Cover letter
• CV – degrees and other completed courses, work experience and a list of publications
• Research proposal (no more than 3 pages) describing what research questions you want to address, what approaches you suggest, and what makes you suitable for the position
• Copy of PhD diploma