Dear list members, may I kindly ask you to distribute this job description to people you know who might be interested? It is a new and exciting project!
Best regards, Jochen Jaeger --------------------------------- 1 Post-doc position available: Topic of project: Driving Forces of Urban Sprawl in Europe Start date: 1 June 2013 (or mid May) Position duration: 2 years Salary: full time, commensurate with experience Application deadline: 25 March 2013 Location of work: Concordia University in downtown Montreal, Canada; some time of the project will be spent at the Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL, Birmensdorf, Switzerland. We are currently looking for a postdoc to work with us on a project about the driving forces of urban sprawl in Europe. The position is available as of mid Mai or June 2013. Project description: Urban sprawl has a number of ecological and socio-economic effects. For example, valuable farmland is built over, and the sealing of the surface destroys the ecological functions of the soils. This clearly is in contradiction to the principles and the spirit of sustainability. In spite of various political declarations about the objective to reduce urban sprawl in many countries in Europe, urban sprawl has continued to increase. Therefore, data on the degree of urban sprawl and on how it is developing are needed that are suitable for comparing different regions, especially according to different socio-economic and geophysical conditions. The project quantitatively investigates the degree of urban sprawl in all European countries on the level of regions (maps of the degree of urban permeation UP, urban dispersion DIS, and weighted urban proliferation WUP, spatial comparisons, comparison of three different datasets: Corine Land Cover (CLC), HRL Soil Sealing, Urban Atlas). The analysis of several points in time will allow for temporal comparisons to assess the rate of increase of urban sprawl. In the second part, the project investigates the causes that contribute to an increased or decreased degree of urban sprawl and determines their relative importance. Urban sprawl is expected to be largely a function of socio-economic factors such as population density and economic structure, and of geophysical factors, such as topography. The project models the statistical relationships between urban sprawl (using the method of weighted urban proliferation, WUP) and a range of predictors such as population density, economic structure, economic productivity, elevation, topography, and others, using current and, if available, historical data sources. Using this statistical model, the project will predict likely urban sprawl values for any specified European landscape and compare the predicted values with actual values. Large discrepancies between predicted and actual values provide a basis for identifying areas for prioritising management action. Such data also provide a starting point for comparisons of the future development of urban sprawl in Europe and better integration of policies to address the challenge posed by urban sprawl. The main task of the project is to prepare statistical models that predict the degree of urban sprawl for regions in Europe based on physical and socio-economic characteristics of these regions. The project is conducted in collaboration with the European Environment Agency (EEA) in Copenhagen. Swiss Federal Agencies support the project. The results will provide data about urban sprawl and its drivers on the European level, which will be used for environmental reporting by the EEA. I would be happy to provide more information. If you want to read about a related project that we did about the topic of landscape fragmentation, you can take a look at this publication:http://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/landscape-fragmentation-in-europe The position includes a statistical analysis of potential driving forces of urban sprawl, and writing of two scientific project reports, a project report for policy makers, and two peer-reviewed publications (possibly more). The project does not include fieldwork. The successful applicant will participate in the presentation of the results at workshops in Berne and Copenhagen. Background: Dr. Jaeger’s research is in Landscape Ecology, Road Ecology, and Environmental Impact Assessment. You find more detailed information here: http://www.gpe.concordia.ca/about/facultystaff/jaeger.php Skills and qualifications: - strong PhD degree in the natural sciences; preferably in geography or land-use/landscape ecology; - good experience with the statistical analysis of spatial data; - good general knowledge of Europe (geographic, political, economic); - experience with GIS; - very good quantitative skills (formulas, graphs); - very good writing skills (in English); - experience with publishing peer-reviewed papers; - good oral presentation skills; - good organizational, communication, and time-management skills; - knowledge of French and/or German would be an asset but is not required. Project partners: - European Environment Agency, Copenhagen, Denmark - Swiss Federal Agencies, Berne, Switzerland - Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL, Birmensdorf, Switzerland Address: Please submit your cover letter, CV, two or three academic reference letters, and copies of publications by email or postal mail to: Dr. Jochen Jaeger Department of Geography, Planning and Environment Concordia University Montreal 1455 de Maisonneuve Blvd. W., H1255 Montreal, QC, H3G 1M8, Canada Tel: +1 – 514 – 848 2424 ext. 5481 Fax: +1 – 514 – 848 2032 E-mail: jochen.jaeger @ concordia.ca and to Christian Schwick: schwick @ hispeed.ch References of interest: Jaeger, J.A.G., Bertiller, R., Schwick, C., Kienast, F. (2010): Suitability criteria for measures of urban sprawl. –Ecological Indicators 10(2): 397-406. Jaeger, J.A.G., Bertiller, R., Schwick, C., Cavens, D., Kienast, F. (2010): Urban permeation of landscapes and sprawl per capita: New measures of urban sprawl. – Ecological Indicators 10(2): 427-441. -- Dr. Jochen Jaeger, Associate Professor Concordia University Department of Geography, Planning and Environment 1455 de Maisonneuve Blvd. W., Suite H1255 Montréal, Quebec, H3G 1M8, Canada Tel.: (+1) 514 – 848-2424 extension 5481 Email (new since June 26): [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> Web: http://gpe.concordia.ca/faculty-and-staff/jjaeger/<http://gpe.concordia.ca/faculty-and-staff/jjaeger/><http://gpe.concordia.ca/faculty-and-staff/jjaeger/>
