Soil Scientist, Natural Flood Management Postdoctoral Research Fellow
All degree programmes are professionally accredited and designed with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals in mind.
Staff and students work and study in the stunning natural landscape of south west England. Our national parks, National Landscapes, characterful towns and cities, and 650 mile-long coastline provide the backdrop from which we address global sustainability challenges on land and at sea.Students develop in this supportive environment to be pioneers of a better and more sustainable future for our planet and all of its people.
An interdisciplinary team of world-class academics undertakes teaching and research focused on challenges including climate change, natural hazards, social justice, pollution, energy transitions, land- and seascape conservation and the sensitive development of natural resources.
The School holds an Athena SWAN Bronze award demonstrating the University’s ongoing commitment to advancing gender equality and success for all, and is a signatory to the Royal Geographical Society’s Inclusive Fieldwork Principles.
The Climate Resilient Otter Catchment (CROC) is an exciting new partnership project funded by the Environment Agency as part of a £25 million Natural Flood Management applied research programme. The research project aims to better quantify the effectiveness of Natural Flood Management (NFM) interventions in a systematic way allowing comparison between intervention types to inform future optimization of NFM.Monitoring in this way will also allow comparison with other NFM work being undertaken nationally.
CROC is the only national NFM project funded and led by the Environment Agency (EA) and is therefore a flagship project. The project builds on previous and ongoing successful UoP collaborations with the EA and researchers at the University of Exeter’s (UoE) Centre for Resilience in Environment, Water and Waste (CREWW).
You would be joining a supportive and experienced NFM research team at UoP with related PDRF’s, academic researchers and PhD students, in the School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences (SoGEES) https://www.plymouth.ac.uk/schools/school-of-geography-earth-and-environmental-sciences.You will have the added benefit of working closely with the University’s Sustainable Earth Institute Sustainable Earth Institute.
The PDRF will focus on the role of sustainable soils management in NFM in the River Otter catchment, East Devon. The Otter catchment is part of a successful Round 2 Landscape Recovery Plan, led by the Clinton Devon Estate who are project partners and delivers of the NFM interventions.The Otter catchment has experienced severe flooding in recent years with challenges of land management and soil erosion in rapid response River sub catchments.
The position would require extensive fieldwork in the lower Otter catchment, with follow-up work in UoP soil analytical and ISO-certified Consolidated Radio-isotope Facility (CoRIF) labs. In field monitoring will consist of traditional measures of soil compaction, soil water infiltration, soil aggregate stability and soil water runoff.Laboratory analysis will include sediment fingerprinting using x-ray fluorescence analysis to determine source apportionment of downstream riverine sediments. Experimental design will be a nested approach with field level soil analysis in 9 sub catchments where monitoring of net discharge and cumulative NFM benefits are being undertaken as part of wider project activities.
For an informal discussion, please contact Dr Paul Lunt (paul.lunt@plymouth.ac.uk) or Professor Will Blake (william.blake@plymouth.ac.uk)
There is an essential requirement within this role that you will be required to travel to and work at different University sites and/or other business locations that may not be easily accessible by public transport. Please refer to the job description for further information.
The successful candidate may be required to obtain an ATAS Certificate prior to this research being undertaken.
Please demonstrate how you meet the essential criteria outlined in the knowledge, qualifications, training and experience elements of the job description in your supporting statement.
Interviews will take place week commencing 18th November and you will be notified if you have been shortlisted or not.
This is a full-time position working 37 hours per week on a fixed-term basis until 31st March 2027 due to funding. Remote working is available up to 2 days a week.
We offer a competitive salary package and a generous pension and holiday scheme. We also offer a range of other benefits/support mechanisms, including ongoing development opportunities, flexible working, staff networks and enhanced maternity, paternity and adoption leave.
A summary of our comprehensive benefits can be viewed here.
The University of Plymouth has a strong interdisciplinary research ethos which is supported by our three strategic Research Institutes; the Marine Institute, the Sustainable Earth Institute, and the Plymouth Institute of Health and Care Research.As a member of our academic community, you’ll be expected to contribute to our recognised research strengths. Working holistically across the University, you will be challenged to innovate, collaborate and deliver impactful research contributions as part of a systems thinking approach to addressing today’s global challenges.