Missions

The forests of Central Africa play a key role in the global carbon balance. One of the challenges is to reliably quantify CO2 emission reductions and absorption in Central Africa in order to inform policies and measures that properly address drivers of forest loss. Much of our knowledge about the structure and dynamics of tropical forests is based on research conducted at a limited number of long-term research sites. These sites are essential for calibrating remote sensing instruments and validating national and regional aerial biomass maps.
The One Forest Vision initiative (OFVi project, https://www.oneforestvision.org/eng) has enabled the creation of partnerships across Central Africa. At each long-term research site, terrestrial laser scans, tree inventories and aerial laser scans of the surrounding landscape are carried out. This dataset will be converted into aerial biomass maps and used to validate the mapping methods recently developed as part of OFVi, as well as to validate ESA's Earth Explorer BIOMASS mission.
We are opening a two-year position for a postdoctoral researcher associate in the OFVi project. Her/his project will explore the determinants of tropical forest structure and above-ground biomass in various forest landscapes in Central Africa, in particular the hypothesis that the models applied to convert ALS measurements into above-ground biomass are transferable to all Central African forest landscapes, and the hypothesis that the BIOMASS satellite canopy height inference methods accurately represent the variability observed in Central African forests.
The research associate will work at the CNRS in Toulouse and will be involved in the activities of GEO-TREES (https://geo-trees.org), a highly collaborative international and interdisciplinary network. Active collaborations with partner institutions in Central Africa will be encouraged, as well as within the BIOMASS satellite scientific team.

Activities

Field missions as part of the OFVi project; analysis of data from forest inventories and airborne laser scanning; writing scientific articles; participation in international collaborations.

Skills

A doctoral degree in biology, environmental science, or related fields; A sound understanding of concepts in tropical forest ecology and ecosystem science; Practical experience in field sampling, data collection, and data processing and/or modelling; Ability to work in interdisciplinary teams, and excellent communication skills in English; A demonstrated track record of publishing in international peer-reviewed journals.

Work Context

The project will be conducted at the CNRS, France's leading scientific research institution, in the CRBE (Centre for Research on Biodiversity and the Environment) research unit in Toulouse, France, in Dr Jérôme Chave's group. Toulouse is the main city in south-western France, with a lively atmosphere, located one hour from the Pyrenees, two hours from Montpellier and three hours from the Atlantic Ocean. It will rely heavily on existing international collaborations within the GEO-TREES Global Initiative. The contract is for 24 months.

Constraints and risks

NA