Are you a broadly interested researcher with a university degree? Are you fascinated by sustainability issues and do you have experience and affinity with researching the effects of land use on climate? Then we are looking for you! Within the team Sustainable Forest Ecosystems (SFE) of
Wageningen Environmental Research (WENR), there is a need to expand capacity for research into monitoring and reporting greenhouse gas emissions and CO2 removals from land use, land-use change and forestry (LULUCF).
While the team’s main focus is on forests we also conduct research into the role of land use and forest management in greenhouse gas emissions and removals in a broader context involving the whole LULUCF sector, including other land uses. Team members are responsible for the compilation of the national greenhouse gas inventory for the LULUCF sector in the Netherlands. For this we develop and work with geographically explicit instruments (such as models and monitoring) that can be used to determine the effects of the management or change in land use of forests, cropland, grasslands, wetlands, settlements and other land. We closely collaborate with other experts on land use and soil at Wageningen Environmental Research and external research institutes to bring together all required information for the LULUCF monitoring.
We use our knowledge and tools to draw up the international (Climate Convention, Paris Agreement, EU) and national (Climate and Energy Outlook) reports of greenhouse gas emissions and removals for the LULUCF sector in the Netherlands. With our science-based expertise we also support the development and evaluation of climate policy of the Dutch government and European Commission. For instance, we currently support the European Commission in drafting the methodologies for certification of carbon removals in forests, wetlands and agricultural soils (carbon farming).
Your duties and responsibilities: As LULUCF researcher you will contribute to further improving our methodologies for calculating carbon stock changes towards higher Tier levels according to the IPCC guidelines for national greenhouse gas inventories. This will involve the compilation and collection of new emission factors for carbon stock changes in living biomass, dead organic matter or soils and/or emissions of methane or nitrous oxide due to land use or land use change.
Depending on your expertise you will be responsible for the improvements for several land use categories covered by the LULUCF sector and/or the further development of spatially explicit approaches. You also contribute to the acquisition of new externally funded projects.
You will work here You will be placed in the team SFE of WENR, based at the Wageningen Campus of Wageningen University and Research, but you will also collaborate intensively with colleagues in other teams at WENR as well as with researchers in other research institutes in the Netherlands and internationally.
You will be working in an enthusiastic team of about 24 colleagues working on options for conservation, restoration, development and sustainable use of trees and forests from an ecological perspective. We focus on the way in which policy, management and climate affect ecological processes and what their consequences are for climate change mitigation, biodiversity conservation and restoration, delivery of ecosystem services and other specific policy goals.
The team offers a stimulating working environment combining first class expertise and young enthusiasm! To get a taste of the team read this
post!