In the framework of the European COST Action FP0603 (Forest Models for
Research and Decision Support in Sustainable Forest Management, http://www.isa.utl.pt/def/fp0603forestmodels/)
and of the Swiss research project MOUNTLAND (http://www.cces.ethz.ch/projects/sulu/MOUNTLAND
) on impact of land use and climate change on mountain ecosystems and
landscape, we are looking for a
Ph.D. student in ecological modelling
who will undertake the specific task “Vegetation dynamics in pasture-
woodland landscapes under climate change: towards a modeling tool for
active adaptive management of silvopastoral systems”.
Your tasks: You will achieve the development of a spatially explicit
dynamic model of landscape dynamics (WoodPaM), based on several
existing models (e.g., LandClim, TreeMig). For this, you will work in
strong collaboration with modelers at ETHZ and WSL, as well as with
plant and soil ecologists at EPFL, in the framework of the MOUNTLAND
project. Your model will implement key ecological processes operating
at three organization levels in a hierarchically structured
silvopastoral system: interactions among tree species, plant
functional types and cattle, influenced by topography, land use and
climatic constraints. You will apply this model to the simulation and
the prediction of future changes in landscape structure and ecosystem
services in selected areas of the Jura Mountains, through various
scenarios of climate change and management. Your model will be used to
design novel strategies for the sustainable land use of mountain
ecosystems and landscapes based on the concept of active adaptive
management.
You will be affiliated to the Doctoral Program Environment at the EPFL
Doctoral School (http://phd.epfl.ch/page55510.html), hosted at ECOS in
Lausanne and start your work in early 2009.
Your qualifications: You got a M.Sc. degree in mathematical ecology or
environmental engineering, preferably with a thesis topic in spatial
ecological modeling. You have good English communication and writing
skills. You have gained knowledge and practice in dynamic modeling of
complex systems, including the use of visual modeling environments,
such as Simile, and the experience of at least one programming
language. You have some interest in community ecology or landscape
ecology and you are familiar with GIS. You work cooperatively in an
interdisciplinary team effort and wish to take initiatives and go at
work with ambition.
Interested? Please send your complete application, including a
motivation letter and a CV with photo, brief description of M.Sc.
thesis work as well as a list of publications, to Prof. François
Gillet (invited professor at EPFL) at the following address:
Prof. François Gillet
Université de Franche-Comté – CNRS, UMR Chrono-environnement 6249
16 route de Gray, F-25030 Besançon cedex (France)
For more information, please contact [email protected].
EPFL is, together with ETHZ, one of the two federal institutes of
technology in Switzerland (http://www.epfl.ch/index.en.html). These
academic institutions have three missions: education, research and
technology transfer at the highest international level. Associated
with several specialized research institutes, the two EPFs form the
EPF Domain, which is directly dependent on the Federal Department of
Home Affairs.
The Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research
WSL is part of the EPF Domain. Approximately 500 people work on topics
related to the sustainable use and protection of the environment and
on an integrated approach to handling natural hazards.
The Ecological Systems Laboratory ECOS (http://ecos.epfl.ch/) meets in
Lausanne a multidisciplinary team of scientists attached to either
EPFL or WSL with a focus on community and restoration ecology.
