Evaluation of the capacity of soil plant models to simulate carbon stock variations in permanent and temporary grasselands (M/F)

Job Description

Missions

As part of the ALAMOD project funded by the “PEPR FairCarbon” program, we are offering an 18-month postdoctoral contract (renewable). The main scientific objectives and associated tasks of the position aim to improve understanding of carbon dynamics in soil-plant continuum reservoirs, focusing on grassland ecosystems by leveraging i) the database built within the ALAMOD project on carbon stock variations in ecosystems (soil and plant reservoirs), and ii) simulations from various ecosystem functioning models (models from the national community including specific agroecosystem models such as STICS and FarSim, and more generic models such as ORCHIDEE).

Activity

The postdoctoral researcher will initially be responsible for preparing meteorological forcing files for the considered sites, mainly from grassland sites integrated into Research Infrastructures (AnaEE, ICOS, RMQS), in a generic format (e.g., NetCDF) suitable for the various models associated with the project. The researcher will mainly be responsible for coordinating a modeling group including different modelers interested in grassland ecosystems (associated with the project) to conduct a model intercomparison focused on evaluating the models' ability to represent carbon stock variations at these sites (soil and biomass). Models will also be evaluated on gross and net carbon fluxes for sites where such data are available. Additionally, the researcher may perform simulations with a specific model to analyze the contributions of various factors (climate, CO₂, nitrogen deposition, ecosystem management, fires, etc.) to the simulated stock variations. The work will be carried out within the ALAMOD project in collaboration with i) the managers of the database under construction, ii) the managers of the different models involved, and iii) other postdoctoral researchers focusing on complementary modeling aspects (specific analysis of soil carbon models and work on crop models, notably STICS).

Your Profil

Skills

We are seeking a candidate with a PhD in climate sciences, agronomy, biogeochemistry, or functional ecology, with a strong interest in modeling. Skills in model-data comparison and relational databases would be appreciated, and proficiency in programming languages is required (R, Python, or Fortran). The candidate must have demonstrated the ability to communicate results in scientific journals and at international conferences.

Your Work Environment

Grasslands are significant carbon stocks. Increasing grassland carbon stocks through sustainable management compatible with production goals is a well-recognized lever to contribute to climate change mitigation. However, models simulating carbon stock changes in grassland ecosystems still have considerable room for improvement. The ALAMOD project aims to capitalize on all available data on carbon stock changes in grassland ecosystems to create an unprecedented tool for model evaluation. This dataset will be used to evaluate the different models used/developed by the French research community. The results of this comparison will help identify the strengths and limitations of the different approaches and lay the foundation for a new generation of models accurately simulating carbon stock changes in permanent and temporary grasslands. These results will clarify the potential contribution of grassland ecosystems to achieving France's 2050 carbon neutrality goal.

Compensation and benefits

Compensation

Starting since 3 132,83€

Annual leave and RTT

44 jours

Remote Working practice and compensation

Pratique et indemnisation du TT

Transport

Prise en charge à 75% du coût et forfait mobilité durable jusqu’à 300€

About the offer

About the CNRS

The CNRS is a major player in fundamental research on a global scale. The CNRS is the only French organization active in all scientific fields. Its unique position as a multi-specialist allows it to bring together different disciplines to address the most important challenges of the contemporary world, in connection with the actors of change.

CNRS

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