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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 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 ETH Zurich and WSL, as well as with plant and
soil ecologists at EPFL, in the framework of the
MOUNTLAND project (for more information on these
institutions, see further below). 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 as soon as
possible, i.e. in early 2009.
Your qualifications: You have an 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,
preferably by e-mail, to Prof. François Gillet,
invited professor at EPFL
([email protected]), Université de
Franche-Comté - CNRS, UMR Chrono-environnement
6249, 16 route de Gray, F-25030 Besançon cedex
(France).
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EPFL is, together with ETH Zurich, 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, these
two institutes form the EPF Domain, which is
supervised by 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/) in Lausanne features a
multidisciplinary team of scientists affiliated
with either EPFL or WSL, with a focus on
community and restoration ecology.
