Postdoctoral Researcher in Social and Environmental Geography (M/F)

Job Description

Missions

Description of the COPEWATER project (2026–2031)
Water-related issues increasingly generate tensions between competing uses of water resources and the need to preserve ecosystems and their biodiversity. Climate change and growing pressures on water resources and catchments are expected to increase hydrological extremes and freshwater scarcity, exacerbating inequalities in access to water at global, regional and local scales.
These challenges are particularly acute on small islands, which rely on limited freshwater resources for drinking water, agriculture, industry and tourism. Their small catchments are directly connected to the sea, forming land–water–sea continuum in which human activities can rapidly affect both catchment and coastal ecosystems. Addressing these challenges therefore requires an integrated understanding of social-ecological systems (SES), combining environmental dynamics with water uses, interactions and governance.
COPEWATER brings together an interdisciplinary consortium to develop approaches for addressing current and future water-related challenges in land–water–sea continuum. Mayotte, a French overseas department in the Indian Ocean, was selected as a case study due to rapid changes in demography, land use and governance, which are increasing pressure on water resources. The island experienced a severe water crisis in 2023–2024, with recurrent water cuts, followed by Cyclone Chido in December 2024, which damaged critical infrastructure and further exacerbated existing vulnerabilities.
Work Package 2 (WP2): Retrospective Analysis
WP2 aims to reconstruct the historical trajectory of the social-ecological system (SES) in Mayotte and identify the main anthropogenic and climatic drivers of changes affecting water resources and hydro-sedimentary dynamics. It focuses on changes in water use, land use and landscape dynamics over the past decades, as well as their consequences for river functioning, including sediment transport, water flows and water quality.
WP2 will combine different sources of evidence, including historical remote sensing data, documentary archives, institutional reports, existing scientific knowledge and qualitative interviews. Particular attention will be paid to changes in water-use practices and governance arrangements, as well as to local perceptions and memories of environmental and societal transformations.
The analysis will contribute to understanding the interactions between the historical trajectories of society, climate and the environment, and how these trajectories have shaped current water-related challenges. WP2 will be implemented in two selected catchments in Mayotte: the Ourovéni catchment (32 km²), the largest on the island, and the Hajangua–Salim Bé catchment (9 km²), both located on Grande-Terre.

Postdoctoral research missions
Within WP2, part of the team will reconstruct past changes in land cover and land use, including urbanisation and agricultural transformations, using archives of satellite and aerial imagery available from the 1970s onwards, and potentially earlier sources. The postdoctoral researcher will work from these results to investigate the drivers and processes underlying these transformations, their implications for rivers and water resources, and how these transformations are remembered and understood by older residents with long-term experience of the territory.
The main tasks will involve documentary research (published historical analyses, institutional reports and historical archives) and qualitative interviews with water-governance actors and older residents. By combining these sources with the results of the land-use analysis, the researcher will investigate the factors underlying land-use changes, changes in water-use practices and governance choices, as well as the outcomes of past management decisions.
Interviews with water-governance actors will include a social network approach to analyse current collaborations and identify desired or potential forms of collaboration. This will contribute to understanding the governance dynamics underlying current water-related challenges in Mayotte.
Interviews with older residents will document their memories of changes in climate, biodiversity, land use and practices over their lifetime, as well as changes in the societal context. These interviews will provide a long-term perspective on how environmental and societal transformations have affected the territory and its relationship with rivers and water resources.
By combining these different sources of evidence, the researcher will contribute to reconstructing the historical trajectory of the social-ecological system and analysing the interactions between the historical trajectories of society, climate and the environment and their implications for water resources.

Activity

• Two two-month field missions in Mayotte, dedicated to archival research and field interviews.
• Contribution to multi-agent modelling workshops conducted by WP1 with local actors.
• Participation in team meetings aimed at co-developing a framework for integrating and cross-referencing biophysical and social data.
• The postdoctoral researcher will be responsible for producing two WP2 deliverables: 1. Report on social-ecological system dynamics identified through interviews and archive analysis; 2. Report on the evolution of water governance strategies and associated public policies from the past to the present.
• The postdoctoral researcher will also be responsible for co-authoring and submitting scientific articles with other members of the project, and for presenting results at scientific conferences.

Your Profil

Skills

The position is open to a PhD holder in the social sciences and humanities whose research focuses on environmental and territorial issues.

Essential skills:
• experience in qualitative research methods, including conducting and analysing interviews;
• interest in and ability to work in a transdisciplinary context, in interaction with researchers and local actors;
• ability to integrate and analyse data from different sources and methods;
• ability to work as part of a team and contribute to collective and interdisciplinary research;
• rigour and strong writing skills;
• minimum C1 level in French;
• ability to read and write scientific English;
• driving licence held for more than two years for fieldwork travel, or experience riding a scooter that does not require a driving licence.

Desirable skills:
• theoretical and conceptual knowledge of social-ecological systems, social memory and water governance;
• experience in analysing territorial dynamics and environmental change;
• experience in documentary research or archival research;
• experience in social network analysis;
• fieldwork experience in tropical contexts;
• knowledge of Shimaore or Shibushi.

Your Work Environment

PRODIG is a joint research unit involving the CNRS, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, Université Paris Cité, IRD and AgroParisTech, in partnership with Sorbonne Université. The research unit conducts research on territorial dynamics and their interactions with development and environmental issues, at different scales and in a wide range of contexts, primarily in the Global South. It pays particular attention to global changes, territorial transformations and the inequalities that shape them.
PRODIG has 61 permanent members and 60 PhD students and is located on the Condorcet Campus.

The successful candidate will be supervised by:
• Esméralda Longépée, Associate Professor in Environmental Geography at Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne;
• Francisco Martins Cortezzi, Associate Professor in Geography at Université de Mayotte.
The successful candidate will benefit from scientific supervision in both Paris and Mayotte, facilitating their integration into the research team and support during field missions. Esméralda Longépée will also participate in shorter field missions.

Constraints and risks

• tropical climate and sometimes challenging field conditions;
• specific security context;
• travel may be disrupted by social movements;
• the survey schedule may need to be adapted to local conditions;
• an interpreter will be required for some interviews, as some participants do not speak French

Compensation and benefits

Compensation

between 3 133 € ans 4 344€ gross per month

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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