CIAT - Soils and Crop Modeling Post Doctoral Scientist Job in Nairobi Kenya

Post Doctoral Scientist in Soils and Crop Modeling

The International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) – a member of the CGIAR Consortium – develops technologies, innovative methods, and new knowledge that better enable farmers, especially smallholders, to make agriculture competitive and profitable as well as sustainable and resilient. 

Headquartered near Cali, Colombia, CIAT conducts research for development in tropical regions of Latin America, Africa, and Asia. www.ciat.cgiar.org
 

CGIAR is a global research partnership for a food secure future. Its science is carried out by the 15 research centers of the CGIAR Consortium in collaboration with hundreds of partner organizations. www.cgiar.org 

The CGIAR has a portfolio of global research programs to implement a recently agreed strategy of research for development.  

Key areas within the strategy and the portfolio are farming systems intensification, reducing risk for vulnerable populations, and sustainable management of natural resources in landscapes to benefit the poor.
 

The Tropical Soil Biology and Fertility Institute (TSBF) joined CIAT in 2001, and since then has grown and evolved to become one of the three research areas of CIAT. Taking forward the original focus of TSBF, scientists at CIAT are working at the interface between agriculture and ecology to achieve durable food security, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, but with a global agenda. 

CIAT’s  soils research is extremely well placed to contribute in the reformed CGIAR.  To build up the momentum of this work, CIAT is recruiting new members for its soils research team.

CIAT and ICRISAT (www.icrisat.cgiar.org) are looking for a post doctoral scientist to work closely with scientists at CIAT working on the mapping of soil functional properties, and with scientists at ICRISAT engaged in global yield gap assessment, in order to better understand and map soil constraints limiting the yield potential in SSA.

The candidate will work with a variety of data from agronomic trials, weather stations and detailed soil information and apply crop growth simulation modeling to develop scenarios for addressing yield gaps that answer important development questions. 

S/he will specifically look at the importance of good soil information for crop growth simulation and assess how and which detailed soil data can improve simulation results. 

S/he will be expected to engage actively with users of knowledge such that these efforts bring important knowledge to researchers about the needs of users, and help tailor products of that work to expressed needs.

Through this work the post doctoral scientist will be contributing to the bridging of data and knowledge between two large on-going initiatives, the Global Yield Gap and Water Productivity Atlas (GYGA) and the Africa Soil Information Service (AfSIS), and bridging gaps between knowledge generation and use. 

The incumbent will apply agronomic, spatial analysis and modeling skills.

Role and Responsibilities

• Contribute expertise and research innovation in the areas of soils and crop modeling within the context of on-going initiatives in collaboration with senior scientists.
• Publish results in peer reviewed journals.
• Supervise technical staff and graduate students.
• Engage with partners to learn and disseminate knowledge.
• Support knowledge sharing and communications efforts.

Requirements

• A PhD in Soil Science, Agronomy, Natural Resources Management, Spatial Analysis (GIS) or related discipline.
• At least two years of relevant research experience in farming systems in developing countries.
• Knowledge and skills in the use of crop models.
• Understanding of smallholder farming systems in sub-Saharan Africa, the constraints of smallholder farmers, and the role of research for development processes.
• Pro-active researcher with demonstrated interest in and ability to publish in peer reviewed international journals.
• Proven experience and capacity for field work.
• Proven interpersonal skills and ability to work independently and with diverse teams representing different cultural and professional backgrounds.
• Willingness to live in Nairobi and travel widely in the region.
• Excellent writing and communication skills in English.

Terms of employment
 

The Post Doctoral Scientist will report to a Senior Scientist at CIAT and at ICRISAT.  S/he will be based in Nairobi, Kenya and the contract will be for an initial 2 year period, subject to a probation period of six (6) months. CIAT will be responsible for performance appraisals and evaluation of the Post Doctoral scientist in consultation with ICRISAT.  

CIAT offers internationally competitive salary and benefits packages. CIAT is an equal opportunity employer, and strives for staff diversity in gender and nationality. Female candidates from Latin America, Africa, and Asia are encouraged to apply.
 

Applications

Applicants are invited to send a cover letter illustrating their suitability for the above position against the listed qualifications, competencies, skills together with a detailed curriculum vitae, including names and addresses of three referees knowledgeable about the candidate’s professional qualifications and work experience. 

All correspondence should be addressed to the CIAT Human Resources Office to Catalina Montoya (c.m.ruiz@cgiar.org) and Alice Kareri (a.kareri@cgiar.org) and should clearly indicate “Soils and Crop Modeling” on their application letters or email submissions.
   
Closing date for applications: 15 June 2012

CIAT - Soils and Land Information Post Doctoral Scientist Job in Nairobi Kenya

Post Doctoral Scientist: Soils and Land Information

The International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) – a member of the CGIAR Consortium – develops technologies, innovative methods, and new knowledge that better enable farmers, especially smallholders, to make agriculture competitive and profitable as well as sustainable and resilient. 

Headquartered near Cali, Colombia, CIAT conducts research for development in tropical regions of Latin America, Africa, and Asia. www.ciat.cgiar.org
 

CGIAR is a global research partnership for a food secure future. Its science is carried out by the 15 research centers of the CGIAR Consortium in collaboration with hundreds of partner organizations. www.cgiar.org 

The CGIAR has a portfolio of global research programs to implement a recently agreed strategy of research for development.  Key areas within the strategy and the portfolio are farming systems intensification, reducing risk for vulnerable populations, and sustainable management of natural resources in landscapes to benefit the poor.
 

The Tropical Soil Biology and Fertility Institute (TSBF) joined CIAT in 2001, and since then has grown and evolved to become one of the three research areas of CIAT. Taking forward the original focus of TSBF, scientists at CIAT are working at the interface between agriculture and ecology to achieve durable food security, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, but with a global agenda. CIAT’s  soils research is extremely well placed to contribute in the reformed CGIAR.  

To build up the momentum of this work, CIAT is recruiting new members for its soils research team.
 

CIAT is looking for a Soil Scientist to work on developing and delivering soil and land information relevant to policy and decision makers. 

In the rapidly changing contexts of Southeast Asia, development projects and programs forge ahead without adequate understanding of the state of natural resources or the impacts multiple interventions will have on the quality and access to those resources for farmers. 

In sub-Saharan Africa, CIAT has lead a multi-country program to improve the quality and delivery of soil and land information for a variety of development needs.  

The post doc will use a range of methods including those developed in the African Soil Information Service (AfSIS) project, and apply them in Southeast Asia embedded in on-going development programs, to ensure that products suit the needs of development actors, and ultimately farmers. 

The new CGIAR Research Program Water, Land and Ecosystems takes a landscape and basin perspective on agriculture – environment interactions to understand interventions that can improve landscape functioning overall in terms of providing ecosystem services directly to people, and indirectly to support agricultural communities.  The candidate will contribute to this program. 

The Post Doc will need to apply skills from natural resources management, ecological modeling, and information systems management, and will work with other scientists in integrated interdisciplinary projects. 
 
Role and Responsibilities

• Contribute expertise and research innovation in the area of soil and land information systems and deliver, within the context of on-going initiatives in collaboration with senior scientists
• Publish results in peer reviewed journals
• Coordinate field sampling and trainings
• Engage with partners to learn and disseminate knowledge
• Supervise technical staff if requested
• Support knowledge sharing and communications efforts

Requirements

• A PhD in Soil Science, Landscape Ecology, Pedology, Remote Sensing and Spatial Modeling, or related disciplines.
• At least two years of relevant research experience in landscape modeling applications or resource management relevant to meso-scale planning, systems diagnosis, or scenario development.
• Share commitment and passion for our mission.
• Pro-active researcher with demonstrated interest in and ability to publish in peer reviewed international journals.
• Capacity/willingness for field work.
• Proven interpersonal skills and ability to work independently and with diverse teams representing different cultural and professional backgrounds.
• Willingness to live in Vietnam or Laos and travel within and to other regions.
• Excellent writing skills and able to write clearly and concisely in English for a wide range of audiences.

Terms of employment
 

The Post Doctoral Scientist will report to a Senior Scientist in the Soils Research Area. S/he will be based in Vientian, Laos or Hanoi, Vietnam and the contract will be for an initial 2 year period, subject to a probation period of six (6) months. CIAT offers internationally competitive salary and benefits packages. 

CIAT is an equal opportunity employer, and strives for staff diversity in gender and nationality. Female candidates from Latin America, Africa, and Asia are encouraged to apply.
 

Applications
 

Applicants are invited to send a cover letter illustrating their suitability for the above position against the listed qualifications, competencies, skills together with a detailed curriculum vitae, including names and addresses of three referees knowledgeable about the candidate’s professional qualifications and work experience. 

All correspondence should be addressed to the CIAT Human Resources Office to Catalina Montoya (c.m.ruiz@cgiar.org) and Chanthana Douangsavanh (c.douangsavanh@cgiar.org) and should clearly indicate “Soils and land Information” on their application letters or email submissions.
 

Closing date for applications: 15 June 2012

CIAT - Landscape Modeling Post Doctoral Scientist Job in Nairobi Kenya

Post Doctoral Scientist: Landscape Modeling 

The International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) – a member of the CGIAR Consortium – develops technologies, innovative methods, and new knowledge that better enable farmers, especially smallholders, to make agriculture competitive and profitable as well as sustainable and resilient. 

Headquartered near Cali, Colombia, CIAT conducts research for development in tropical regions of Latin America, Africa, and Asia. www.ciat.cgiar.org
 

CGIAR is a global research partnership for a food secure future. Its science is carried out by the 15 research centers of the CGIAR Consortium in collaboration with hundreds of partner organizations. www.cgiar.org 

The CGIAR has a portfolio of global research programs to implement a recently agreed strategy of research for development.  

Key areas within the strategy and the portfolio are farming systems intensification, reducing risk for vulnerable populations, and sustainable management of natural resources in landscapes to benefit the poor.
 

The Tropical Soil Biology and Fertility Institute (TSBF) joined CIAT in 2001, and since then has grown and evolved to become one of the three research areas of CIAT. Taking forward the original focus of TSBF, scientists at CIAT are working at the interface between agriculture and ecology to achieve durable food security, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, but with a global agenda. CIAT’s  soils research is extremely well placed to contribute in the reformed CGIAR.  

To build up the momentum of this work, CIAT is recruiting new members for its soils research team.

CIAT is looking for a landscape modeler to work on integrating a variety of data and information into a coherent set of analytical landscapes by applying a unified methodology across a range of study sites. CIAT has numerous on-going and completed projects that focus on improving productivity of smallholder farmers and communities managing agroecosystems. 

The post doctoral scientist will apply landscape modeling tools in a set of study landscapes across the range of geographies and developmental contexts representing rainfed farming systems in Latin America, Southeast Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.

The new CGIAR Research Program Water, Land and Ecosystems takes a landscape and basin perspective on agriculture – environment interactions to understand interventions that can improve landscape functioning overall in terms of providing ecosystem services directly to people, and indirectly to support agricultural communities.  The candidate will contribute to this program. 

The Post Doc will need to apply skills in landscape, eco-hydrological and/or ecosystem services modeling and will work with scientists from CIAT and other CGIAR Centers in an integrated interdisciplinary project.  The position will be based in Nairobi, Kenya, with possibility to work also in Latin America and Southeast Asia.
 

Role and Responsibilities

• Contribute expertise and research innovation on landscape modeling, within the context of on-going initiatives in collaboration with senior scientists.
• Publish results in peer reviewed journals.
• Supervise technical staff.
• Engage with partners to learn and disseminate knowledge.
• Support knowledge sharing and communications efforts.

Requirements

• A PhD in Landscape Ecology, Geography, Remote Sensing and Spatial Modeling, or related discipline.
• At least two years of relevant research experience in landscape modeling applications relevant to meso-scale planning, systems diagnosis, or scenario development.
• Share commitment and passion for our mission.
• Pro-active researcher with demonstrated interest in and ability to publish in peer reviewed international journals.
• Capacity/willingness for field work.
• Proven interpersonal skills and ability to work with diverse teams representing different cultural and professional backgrounds.
• Willingness to live and work in developing countries.
• Excellent writing skills and able to write clearly and concisely in English for a wide range of audiences.

Terms of employment
 

The Post Doctoral Scientist will report to a Senior Scientist in the Soils Research Area. S/he will be based in Nairobi, Kenya and the contract will be for an initial 2 year period, subject to a probation period of six (6) months. 

CIAT offers internationally competitive salary and benefits packages. CIAT is an equal opportunity employer, and strives for staff diversity in gender and nationality. Female candidates from Latin America, Africa, and Asia are encouraged to apply.
 

Applications
 

Applicants are invited to send a cover letter illustrating their suitability for the above position against the listed qualifications, competencies, skills together with a detailed curriculum vitae, including names and addresses of three referees knowledgeable about the candidate’s professional qualifications and work experience. 

All correspondence should be addressed to the CIAT Human Resources Office to Catalina Montoya (c.m.ruiz@cgiar.org) and Alice Kareri (a.kareri@cgiar.org) and should clearly indicate “Landscape Modeling” on their application letters or email submissions.
   
Closing date for applications: 15 June 2012

CIAT - Soil Health and Climate Change Scientist Job in Nairobi Kenya

Scientist: Soil Health and Climate Change

The International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) – a member of the CGIAR Consortium – develops technologies, innovative methods, and new knowledge that better enable farmers, especially smallholders, to make agriculture competitive and profitable as well as sustainable and resilient. 

Headquartered near Cali, Colombia, CIAT conducts research for development in tropical regions of Latin America, Africa, and Asia. www.ciat.cgiar.org
 

CGIAR is a global research partnership for a food secure future. Its science is carried out by the 15 research centers of the CGIAR Consortium in collaboration with hundreds of partner organizations. www.cgiar.org 

The CGIAR has a portfolio of global research programs to implement a recently agreed strategy of research for development.  

Key areas within the strategy and the portfolio are farming systems intensification, reducing risk for vulnerable populations, and sustainable management of natural resources in landscapes to benefit the poor.
 

The Tropical Soil Biology and Fertility Institute (TSBF) joined CIAT in 2001, and since then has grown and evolved to become one of the three research areas of CIAT. 

Taking forward the original focus of TSBF, scientists at CIAT are working at the interface between agriculture and ecology to achieve durable food security, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, but with a global agenda. CIAT’s  soils research is extremely well placed to contribute in the reformed CGIAR.  

To build up the momentum of this work, CIAT is recruiting new members for its soils research team.

CIAT is looking for an active scientist to lead and contribute to research on soil health and climate change and the interaction between them.  The soil scientist will contribute to the development and understanding of the impacts of climate smart agricultural practices relevant to agroecosystems managed by smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa. 

Research will be on adaptation and mitigation with the entry point of management of soil ecology, soil organic matter and fertility to improve soil function and sustain improved productivity, with positive adaptation and climate benefits.

Candidates must have a strong desire to bring research to bear on important development questions, and ensure impact of our work on poverty alleviation and creating positive change in a variety of development contexts.  

They must also have an interest in engaging in global discussions on the role of soils in adaptation and mitigation, and e.g REDD+ type initiatives. Responsibilities will include intellectual management and leadership of soil biology and carbon cycling laboratories in Nairobi. 

The candidate will lead projects and conduct research that contributes to the CGIAR Research Programs on climate change, agro-ecological intensification, and tropical legumes. 

The position is posted in Nairobi, with primary responsibility in sub-Saharan Africa, but includes interaction and collaboration with scientists in Latin America and Southeast Asia, and in the other Research Areas of CIAT particularly Agrobiodiversity. 

Role and Responsibilities

• Creatively lead research in the area of soil health, carbon and OM dynamics, and climate change.
• Lead interdisciplinary research for development projects or components of projects toward successful outcomes.
• Proactively engage in opportunities to create impact from CIAT’s work, including participating in on-going platforms and discussions with policy and decision makers.
• Maintain an international reputation through contributions to international scientific meetings and publication of research papers in peer reviewed journals.
• Contribute to program strategy development and integration.
• Represent the institute at a variety of fora with a variety of partners.
• Maintain relationships with donors develop successful proposals that align with and strengthen CIAT’s research and the Consortium Research Programs.
• Mentor and supervise junior staff.
• Supporting communications efforts of the Research Area and CIAT.

Requirements

• PhD in Soil Science, Soil Fertility/Ecology, or related field.
• At least 5 years experience in soil ecology and/or carbon dynamics research.
• Extensive experience in field experimentation in developing countries.
• Demonstrated competence in managing a research laboratory.
• Experience in applying soil ecology analysis to farming systems improvement.
• Expertise in supporting nitrogen fixation and other innovation in farming systems.
• Ability to work in multidisciplinary teams to provide solutions that can sustainably increase productivity with benefit to the rural poor.
• Ability to manage and mentor more junior researchers to produce high quality outputs.
• Demonstrated ability to independently publish in international journals.

Terms of employment
 

The Scientist will report to the Director of the Soils Research Area. S/he will be based in Nairobi, Kenya and the contract will be for an initial 2 year period, subject to a probation period of six (6) months. CIAT offers internationally competitive salary and benefits packages. 

CIAT is an equal opportunity employer, and strives for staff diversity in gender and nationality. Female candidates from Latin America, Africa, and Asia are encouraged to apply.
 

Applications
 

Applicants are invited to send a cover letter illustrating their suitability for the above position against the listed qualifications, competencies, skills together with a detailed curriculum vitae, including names and addresses of three referees knowledgeable about the candidate’s professional qualifications and work experience. 

All correspondence should be addressed to the CIAT Human Resources Office to Catalina Montoya (c.m.ruiz@cgiar.org) and Alice Kareri (a.kareri@cgiar.org) and should clearly indicate “Soil Health and Climate Change” on their application letters or email submissions.
 

Closing date for applications: 15 June 2012