PhD Candidate (M/F)

Job Description

Thesis Subject

Forest soil biodiversity indicators: integration of transdisciplinary approaches for sustainable management

Your Work Environment

This doctorate takes place in the context of the BOSFOR project "Biodiversity of Forest Soils: Improving the knowledge and monitoring techniques to account for the biodiversity of the soils in forest management and modeling in a context of global change" (https://www.pepr-forestt.org/projets/bosfor), financed by the PEPR FORESTT (https://www.pepr-forestt.org/).
BOSFOR aims to bring key knowledge to help design sustainable decision-making tools for policy-makers and forestry professionals: what is the diversity, phenology and activity of French forest soil organisms? How to better manage the forests to maintain this biodiversity and the associated functions in a climate change context? How can modelers and stakeholders better take this biodiversity into account to improve model predictions and contribute to a more sustainable management of forests? BOSFOR will allow a unique research effort on the biodiversity of forest soils, bringing together specialists in fauna and soil microbiota and working in close collaboration with modelers and stakeholders.
This project relies on French infrastructure and observatories representing contrasting forest ecosystems. It will benefit from the work of sixty researchers, engineers and technicians from eight different laboratories. The work is carried out in close interaction with national and international research projects focused on monitoring soil biodiversity and its response to global changes. BOSFOR also has a committee of stakeholders who provide advice and contribute to research throughout the project.
There are many indicators of soil health used in France. This diversity hinders comparability between sites and management practices, thus complicating decision-making of forest managers. We currently ignore which criteria are used by managers to select a set of given indicators or which challenges managers encounter when using them. First, this doctorate aims to understand the use and performance of existing indicators by French forest stakeholders as well as the criteria that are considered when choosing which indicators to use (acknowledging the inherent in the diversity of objectives that managers may have). Then, this doctorate project aims to co-construct synthetic indicators that take into account soil biodiversity and that are operationally simple, useful, and applicable to different sites, in order to facilitate local decision-making for a more sustainable management of French forests. The existing regulation as well as the gaps in public policies will be taken into account during the co-construction of the indicators. This process will be carried out through close collaboration between managers and other stakeholders and the academic partners.
Main activities
- Participation in the animation of the committee of stakeholders of the BOSFOR project.
- Synthesis and analysis of the literature that to review the existing forest soil biodiversity indicators.
- Contribution to a series of interviews with key actors in the context of the BOSFOR project to understand existing knowledge and how forest soil biodiversity indicators are used and interpreted. Then, realization of a survey intended for a large panel of actors, in order to analyse the diversity of knowledge, interpretations and levels of appropriation of these indicators, and to collect quantitative information on the socio-technical and economic obstacles to the use of existing indicators.
- Analysis of the link between the functions and biodiversity of forest soils, as qualified and quantified by the existing indicators, evaluated through a meta-analysis and/or a specific sampling plan on the ground in coordination with the BOSFOR network of researchers and stakeholders.
- Realization of workshops allowing to co-produce a set of synthetic indicators usable on different sites, by following these steps: (1) development of synthetic indicators, (2) testing of these indicators on the ground and qualitative collection of feedback on their utility and operationality, (3) refinement and validation of indicators.
- Writing texts or producing other supports for the transfer of knowledge to forest stakeholders and other non-academic audiences; writing scientific articles (some in English), and the thesis manuscript.
Knowledge and understanding :
- Master 2 in Biodiversity Ecology and Evolution (preferably)
- Knowledge on forest ecology and soil ecology
- Knowledge in ethnoecology, environmental anthropology, political ecology or geography
- Excellent oral and written French, written and oral English skills
Relevant expertise desirable :
- Systematic literature review
- Interviews, questionnaires, and workshops – experience in cooperatives, associations or NGOs would be welcome
- Soil sampling and analysis (welcome)
- Parametric statistics applied to ecology – experience in meta-analysis welcome

Interpersonal skills :
- Capacity to work in a team and to interact with diverse colleagues
- Easiness of communication with a broad range of actors
- Autonomy
- Initiative, curiosity, perseverance
- Scientific rigor and sense of responsibility
- Appetite for learning and building capacity across diverse academic domains and research practices

Constraints and risks

- Single, inter-, and transdisciplinary research approach, close collaboration with a large diversity of actors.
- Driver's license.

Compensation and benefits

Compensation

2300 € gross monthly

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

The research professions