Post Doctoral Scientist: Soils and Land Information

The International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) – a member of the CGIAR Consortium – develops technologies, innovative methods, and new knowledge that better enable farmers, especially smallholders, to make agriculture competitive and profitable as well as sustainable and resilient. 

Headquartered near Cali, Colombia, CIAT conducts research for development in tropical regions of Latin America, Africa, and Asia. http://www.ciat.cgiar.org/
CGIAR is a global research partnership for a food secure future. Its science is carried out by the 15 research centers of the CGIAR Consortium in collaboration with hundreds of partner organizations. http://www.cgiar.org/ The CGIAR has a portfolio of global research programs to implement a recently agreed strategy of research for development.  Key areas within the strategy and the portfolio are farming systems intensification, reducing risk for vulnerable populations, and sustainable management of natural resources in landscapes to benefit the poor.
The Tropical Soil Biology and Fertility Institute (TSBF) joined CIAT in 2001, and since then has grown and evolved to become one of the three research areas of CIAT. Taking forward the original focus of TSBF, scientists at CIAT are working at the interface between agriculture and ecology to achieve durable food security, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, but with a global agenda. CIAT’s  soils research is extremely well placed to contribute in the reformed CGIAR.  To build up the momentum of this work, CIAT is recruiting new members for its soils research team.
CIAT is looking for a Soil Scientist to work on developing and delivering soil and land information relevant to policy and decision makers. In the rapidly changing contexts of Southeast Asia, development projects and programs forge ahead without adequate understanding of the state of natural resources or the impacts multiple interventions will have on the quality and access to those resources for farmers. In sub-Saharan Africa, CIAT has lead a multi-country program to improve the quality and delivery of soil and land information for a variety of development needs.  The post doc will use a range of methods including those developed in the African Soil Information Service (AfSIS) project, and apply them in Southeast Asia embedded in on-going development programs, to ensure that products suit the needs of development actors, and ultimately farmers. 

The new CGIAR Research Program Water, Land and Ecosystems takes a landscape and basin perspective on agriculture – environment interactions to understand interventions that can improve landscape functioning overall in terms of providing ecosystem services directly to people, and indirectly to support agricultural communities.  The candidate will contribute to this program. 

The Post Doc will need to apply skills from natural resources management, ecological modeling, and information systems management, and will work with other scientists in integrated interdisciplinary projects. 

Role and Responsibilities

Contribute expertise and research innovation in the area of soil and land information systems and deliver, within the context of on-going initiatives in collaboration with senior scientistsPublish results in peer reviewed journalsCoordinate field sampling and trainingsEngage with partners to learn and disseminate knowledgeSupervise technical staff if requestedSupport knowledge sharing and communications efforts A PhD in Soil Science, Landscape Ecology, Pedology, Remote Sensing and Spatial Modeling, or related disciplines.At least two years of relevant research experience in landscape modeling applications or resource management relevant to meso-scale planning, systems diagnosis, or scenario development.Share commitment and passion for our mission. Pro-active researcher with demonstrated interest in and ability to publish in peer reviewed international journals. Capacity/willingness for field work.Proven interpersonal skills and ability to work independently and with diverse teams representing different cultural and professional backgrounds.Willingness to live in Vietnam or Laos and travel within and to other regions.Excellent writing skills and able to write clearly and concisely in English for a wide range of audiences.The Post Doctoral Scientist will report to a Senior Scientist in the Soils Research Area. S/he will be based in Vientian, Laos or Hanoi, Vietnam and the contract will be for an initial 2 year period, subject to a probation period of six (6) months. CIAT offers internationally competitive salary and benefits packages. CIAT is an equal opportunity employer, and strives for staff diversity in gender and nationality. Female candidates from Latin America, Africa, and Asia are encouraged to apply.
 Applicants are invited to send a cover letter illustrating their suitability for the above position against the listed qualifications, competencies, skills together with a detailed curriculum vitae, including names and addresses of three referees knowledgeable about the candidate’s professional qualifications and work experience. All correspondence should be addressed to the CIAT Human Resources Office to Catalina Montoya (c.m.ruiz@cgiar.org) and Chanthana Douangsavanh (c.douangsavanh@cgiar.org) and should clearly indicate “Soils and land Information” on their application letters or email submissions.
Closing date for applications: 15 June 2012

Senior Scientist: Soils, Water and Landscapes

The International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) – a member of the CGIAR Consortium – develops technologies, innovative methods, and new knowledge that better enable farmers, especially smallholders, to make agriculture competitive and profitable as well as sustainable and resilient. 

Headquartered near Cali, Colombia, CIAT conducts research for development in tropical regions of Latin America, Africa, and Asia. http://www.ciat.cgiar.org/
CGIAR is a global research partnership for a food secure future. Its science is carried out by the 15 research centers of the CGIAR Consortium in collaboration with hundreds of partner organizations. The CGIAR has a portfolio of global research programs to implement a recently agreed strategy of research for development.  Key areas within the strategy and the portfolio are farming systems intensification, reducing risk for vulnerable populations, and sustainable management of natural resources in landscapes to benefit the poor.
The Tropical Soil Biology and Fertility Institute (TSBF) joined CIAT in 2001, and since then has grown and evolved to become one of the three research areas of CIAT. Taking forward the original focus of TSBF, scientists at CIAT are working at the interface between agriculture and ecology to achieve durable food security, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, but with a global agenda. CIAT’s  soils research is extremely well placed to contribute in the reformed CGIAR.  To build up the momentum of this work, CIAT is recruiting new members for its soils research team.
CIAT is looking for a science innovator to work on agriculture – environment interactions, restoring degraded landscapes and sustainable intensification at multiple scales.  S/he will be dedicated to ensuring the impact of our work on poverty alleviation and creating positive change in a variety of development contexts.  The work will have a focus on bottom up approaches to critical issues in landscapes such as land degradation, soil fertility decline, water scarcity and loss of biodiversity that result in reduced resilience of communities and trade offs amongst various objectives. This new position comes at a time of great opportunity within the CGIAR for more integrated and impact oriented research for development, and offers wide scope for development. 

Initial responsibility will be to lead areas of work including application of advanced soil information to achieve sustainable natural resource management from field to landscapes, and integrate field level soil, agronomic and social information into landscape scale understanding of ecosystem services and trade offs. 

Responsibility will also include contributing to planning, management and implementation of research within the framework of the CGIAR Research Program Water, Land and Ecosystems.

The position is posted in Nairobi, with primary responsibility in sub-Saharan Africa, but includes interaction and collaboration with scientists in Latin America and SE Asia, and in the other Research Areas of CIAT, particularly Decision and Policy Analysis.

Role and Responsibilities

Creatively lead a group of researchers in the area of agroecosystem intensification, restoring degraded landscapes, ecosystem services and trade off analysis.Lead interdisciplinary research for development projects toward successful outcomes.Proactively engage in opportunities to create impact from CIAT’s work, including participating in on-going platforms and discussions with policy and decision makers. Maintain an international reputation through contributions to international scientific meetings and publication of research papers in peer reviewed journals.Contribute to program strategy development and integration.Represent the institute at a variety of fora with a variety of partners.Maintain relationships with donors to develop successful proposals that align with and strengthen CIAT’s research and the Consortium Research Programs.Support communications efforts of the Research Area and CIAT.A PhD in Soil Science, Agricultural Ecology, Agronomy or related fields.At least 10 years research for development experience and strong publication record.Expertise in methods and approaches for landscape scale research and analysis including ecosystem services approaches, trade off analysis and modeling.Well versed in trends in agriculture – ecosystem nexus issues and debates.Ability to creatively integrate social, livelihoods and biophysical research results to develop solutions to stubborn development problems.Demonstrated ability to think strategically and generate research ideas and successful proposals.Demonstrated success engaging with partners, donors and decision makers.Very capable of managing professional relationships in a complex working environment.Ability to manage large multi-country projects.Ability to manage and mentor more junior researchers to produce high quality outputs.Excellent written and oral communication skills in English.Willingness to live in Kenya and travel widely.The Senior Scientist will report to the Director of the Soils Research Area. S/he will be based in Nairobi, Kenya and the contract will be for an initial 2 year period, subject to a probation period of six (6) months. CIAT offers internationally competitive salary and benefits packages. CIAT is an equal opportunity employer, and strives for staff diversity in gender and nationality.Female candidates from Latin America, Africa, and Asia are encouraged to apply.
 Applicants are invited to send a cover letter illustrating their suitability for the above position against the listed qualifications, competencies, skills together with a detailed curriculum vitae, including names and addresses of three referees knowledgeable about the candidate’s professional qualifications and work experience. All correspondence should be addressed to the CIAT Human Resources Office to Catalina Montoya (c.m.ruiz@cgiar.org) and Alice Kareri (a.kareri@cgiar.org) and should clearly indicate “Soils, Water and Landscapes” on their application letters or email submissions.
Closing date for applications: 15 June 2012