The Amsterdam Institute for Life and Environment (A-LIFE) seeks to strengthen its international position in research on functional trait variation in plant and ecosystem functioning and ecosystem modelling by hiring a tenure-tracker at the Assistant Professor level in the area of Trait-based modelling of biodiversity, biogeographical vegetation dynamics and ecosystem stability.
Future projection of ecosystem vulnerability depends on the ability to simulate both the emergence of de novo ecosystems - vegetation assemblies that have no historical analogue - and the response of existing forests to unprecedented climatological conditions, thus outside their present-day growing range. This requires the implementation of the main morphological, anatomical, physiological, biochemical and phenological characteristics, the so-called traits in climate models. Traits determine how plants respond to environmental factors and disturbances and influence ecosystem processes. Individual traits can be related to each other, affect the likelihood and severity of a disturbance, or can vary with environmental conditions, the latter being an expression of their genetic and/or phenotypic plasticity.
We seek a more theoretically oriented person to develop and incorporate trait-based approaches into the land surface model of the IPSL-CM Earth System Model. The proposed work on trait-based approaches should enable climate models to better account for biodiversity, biogeographical vegetation dynamics, as well as interacting disturbances.
The position is embedded in the section Systems Ecology, a vibrant and informal research group with a strong global track record in climate change and ecosystem functioning and atmosphere-plant-soil-microbe interactions. The candidate is expected to contribute to our continued focus on integrative ecological research. The position connects closely to the high-level expertise already present at the section System Ecology and benefits from strong international collaboration, collaborations within A-LIFE, as well as collaboration with the Department of Earth Sciences and the VU Institute for Environmental Studies. Although the candidate is expected to develop their own research, the successful line of research will integrate the current work on functional trait variation and ecosystem modelling.
We ask candidates to write a concise research statement (max. 1.5 pages) that identifies and presents how their research plans will contribute to the research portfolio of the section Systems ecology. In addition, we ask candidates to provide a concise teaching statement (also 1.5 pages max.) reflecting on their teaching vision and how they will contribute to the teaching tasks of the department.
Your duties
- develop a vigorous, largely extramurally funded research program
- teach bachelor and master level courses in ecology, and related subjects
- provide high quality training and supervision to PhD-students and postdocs
- engage in professional development activities related to teaching and academic leadership