Agriculture, Health and Environment

Location: Medway Campus
Salary: £27,924 to £33,309 per annum
Contract Type: Fixed Term
Closing Date: Monday 16 May 2022
Interview Date: To be confirmed
Reference: 3149

The Natural Resources Institute (NRI) (www.nri.org) is an internationally renowned multi-disciplinary centre of the University of Greenwich that undertakes research, consultancy and training to support global food security, sustainable development and poverty reduction in developing countries. The Institute was recently awarded the Queen’s Anniversary Prize for Further and Higher and Education for its work in developing countries.

The Natural Resources Institute has an exciting opportunity for a Post-doctoral Research Fellow within the Ecosystem Services Research Group. The position will be part of a consortium contributing to the DEFRA-funded project “Comparative Life Cycle Assessment of Commodity Production; Identifying Opportunities for Sustainable Productivity Growth Across the Agri-Food Chain”. This project builds on previous work commissioned by DEFRA in 2006 to utilise Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) to quantify defined environmental impacts associated with diverse (domestic and exporting) production systems. This work highlighted the impact of differing production systems, resource efficiencies, transit distance and transport mode etc on the comparison of environmental performance across domestic and imported goods. This reaffirmed the complexities embedded in the concept of food miles, cautioning against simple generalisations on the benefits of local consumption. The past decade has demonstrated a transition in consumer demands towards more novel products, (such as meat substitutes), emergence of new trading partners, increased visibility of climate related impacts on agriculture as well as a recent reorientation of trading and customs relations. When viewed in tandem with increased availability of data relevant to environmental performance, an updated study is ideally places to inform UK policy in areas of sustainability, trade and beyond.

Consequently, NRI is recruiting a highly qualified Research Fellow specialised in multi-impact LCAs of diverse agricultural production systems. The position will run for 18 months based in Medway, UK. Whilst there may be scope to work remotely, this cannot be guaranteed. In particular, the successful candidate will be expected to: support all stages in the LCA process including selection of commodity cases studies, goal and scope and definition, etc. However, the main responsibilities will be in the generation of life cycle inventory (LCI) analysis and subsequent impact assessment across multiple mid-point impact categories (e.g., global warming, resource depletion, eutrophication acidification potentials, land use occupation).

It is anticipated that the successful Post-doctoral Research Fellow will focus primarily on arable systems with emphasis on post farm gate processes including primary and secondary processing, storage, and transport requirements, (and potentially) consumptive and food waste related impacts. Within the consortium this position be mirrored by a Research Fellow bases in Rothamsted Research (RRes) with a focus on field processes particularly in relation to livestock production systems, therefore some overlap with this area may be expected.

Successful candidates will possess a PhD in Environmental Science or a closely related field with strong mathematical skills, practical LCA experience and must be able to commence employment immediately. This is a fixed term appointment until project end with the possibility for 6^th month extension.

Further requirements are outlined in the Person Specification and Shortlisting Criteria document.

For any queries about the nature or requirements of the position please contact Dr Conor Walsh c.walsh@gre.ac.uk

Should you have any queries please contact the HR Recruitment Team on hrsr-fes@gre.ac.uk 

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