Missions

MISSIONS
At the interface of climate, environment, and health, this project focuses on the impact of climate change on human health in the islands of the southwestern Indian Ocean. It employs an interdisciplinary approach that integrates the effects of climate, demographic changes, and land-use change on vector-borne diseases (transmitted by a living organism called a vector). The objective is to understand and anticipate the impact of climate change on the risk of vector-borne diseases in the southwestern Indian Ocean region. This involves improving the understanding of climate-health processes, refining numerical forecasts, and strengthening science-society interfaces by co-developing climate service demonstrators and sharing knowledge with stakeholders.

Given the dramatic increase in dengue incidence over the past decade in this region, it can be used as a model for arboviral diseases. The project will develop an interdisciplinary modeling approach at the interface of climatology, geomatics, and eco-epidemiology. The recruited research scientist (M/F) will be responsible for: i) Conducting an integrative long-term (climate projections) and short-term (seasonal forecasting) modeling exercise, and ii) Participating in the co-creation and development of climate service demonstrators with stakeholders.

Activités

ACTIVITIES
• Collect and prepare climatic, seasonal, geographic, socio-economic, and eco-epidemiological data. • Contribute to model adaptation by integrating climate, land use, and economic factors. • Develop vector risk projections and perform sensitivity analyses. • Produce and validate probabilistic forecasts of vector abundance and epidemic potential. • Develop prototype public health tools. • Contribute to science-society interface workshops to ensure the relevance of health models. • Write publications and participate in conferences.

Compétences

REQUIRED SKILLS
• Education: PhD in Climate Impact Modeling, Epidemiology, Eco-epidemiology, Climatology, Geomatics, or a relevant interdisciplinary field. • Experience in mechanistic and/or statistical modeling of complex systems, ideally applied to the impacts of climate change and/or the dynamics of infectious diseases. • Computer Science and Data Science: Proficiency in scientific programming (Python or R) for manipulating large climate and geospatial databases.
Experience in GIS/Geomatics and remote sensing data analysis. • Languages: French and English (spoken and written) are essential, given the regional context and international scientific collaboration. CERL: B2. • Autonomy and scientific rigor. • Team spirit and interdisciplinarity – Ability to work effectively within interdisciplinary teams (climatologists, ecologists, epidemiologists, sociologists). • Communication skills: Ability to interact effectively with practitioners, policymakers, and non-academic partners for knowledge transfer. • Availability for short missions to the islands of the Southwest Indian Ocean for co-construction workshops.

Contexte de travail

WORK CONTEXT
The OSU-Réunion (Observatory of Sciences of the Universe in Réunion, University of Réunion, CNRS, IRD, Météo-France, UAR3365) conducts interdisciplinary research on climate and climate change in the Southwest Indian Ocean. At the interface of climate, environment, and health, it participates in several national and international projects in partnership with research institutes, health agencies, meteorological services, and local authorities. A particular focus is on the impact of climatic factors on health risks (heat waves, vector-borne diseases, air quality, population vulnerabilities, etc.). Within this framework, the unit is recruiting a research scientist (m/f) to strengthen its activities in climatological analysis, health risk modeling (spread of vector-borne diseases), and environmental data processing. Short-term missions to the islands of the Southwest Indian Ocean are expected. This position falls under the protection of scientific and technical potential (PPST) and therefore requires, in accordance with regulations, that your arrival be authorized by the competent authority of the Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation (MESR).

Le poste se situe dans un secteur relevant de la protection du potentiel scientifique et technique (PPST), et nécessite donc, conformément à la réglementation, que votre arrivée soit autorisée par l'autorité compétente du MESR.