Postdoctoral Scholar-Quantifying effects of global agricultural commodity chains on ecosystem services

Department: Environmental Science, Policy and Management
Company/Organization: University of California-Berkeley
Location: Center for Diversified Farming Systems, University of California, Berkeley, CA
Deadline for Application: July 2, 2012
Contact: Dr. Claire Kremen, Associate Professor and Chair, Graduate Program Committee
Environmental Sciences Policy and Management
130 Mulford Hall
University of California
Berkeley, CA 94720-3114
510-643-6339
Fax: 510-643-5438
atckremen@berkeley.edu

The Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management at the University of California-Berkeley seeks a postdoctoral researcher to conduct a quantitative comparison of the ecosystem service outcomes of smallholder agricultural production versus large-scale agri-business along global commodity chains. The successful applicant will be a PhD scholar with demonstrated ability to conduct quantitative cross-disciplinary work. Relevant topical areas of expertise include environmental economics, ecology, ecosystem services, food systems studies, international trade, agricultural economics, natural resource management, land use/cover, and global change.

Creating sustainable food production systems requires mitigating environmental impacts of agriculture as food is produced, processed, and distributed. This research aims to inform international policies to meet global food security needs without sacrificing the environment and is funded by the National Academies Keck Futures Initiative (NAKFI, http://www.keckfutures.org/conferences/ecosystem-services/grantees.html). The post-doc will be directly supervised by PI Prof. Claire Kremen but will report to the advisory team of co-PIs on the project (Elena Bennett (McGill), Holly Gibbs (U Wisconsin), Nathalie Walker (National Wildlife Federation), Kim Walker (U Minnesota).

Required Knowledge and Experience:
Relevant disciplinary and interdisciplinary expertise (see above)
Quantitative analytical skills and ability to work with large datasets
Ability to work at multiple scales
Excellent organizational skills

Desirable Additional Experience (any or all of the below):
Life cycle analysis
Commodity supply chain analysis
Agro-ecosystems with expertise in tropics
Valuation of ecosystem services and “embodied” ecosystem services
Geographic Information Systems

Additional Responsibilities:
In addition to their research, the postdoctoral researcher will:

• Organize a small workshop on the research topic to generate ideas from an international assembly of interdisciplinary scholars
• Have the opportunity to participate in graduate teaching related to the research mission of the project
• Disseminate results at scientific professional conferences and in peer-reviewed literature
• Develop new grant proposals stemming from this work and write reports to the donor (NAKFI)
• Serve as the node between project collaborators at the National Wildlife Federation, McGill University, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and the University of Minnesota

Salary:
Salary is commensurate with experience (full-time starting salary at UC Berkeley is $39,264 per year). This position is eligible for benefits.
Timing and Duration:
This one-year position is available beginning September, 2012 (an earlier start date may be negotiable).
Location:
Center for Diversified Farming Systems, University of California, Berkeley, CA, (http://dfs.berkeley.edu/)

Please submit PDFs of a CV, a brief cover letter highlighting your relevant experience, interests and career goals, and names and contacts of 3 references by email to QEpostdoc@gmail.com no later than July 2, 2012.Applicants should have a recent PhD degree, or their degree will be conferred before the starting date.

Applications may be reviewed as they are received. For further information about the project, contact Dr. Claire Kremen directly at ckremen@berkeley.edu.

The University of California is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer committed to excellence through diversity. Applicants should ask referees to review the UC Berkeley Statement of Confidentiality found at http://apo.chance.berkeley.edu/evalltr.html.

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