A postdoctoral position on forest epidemiology modeling is available at the Agroclim (INRA, Avignon) and Tree/Microorganism Interactions laboratories (INRA, Nancy) in France.
The Agroclim and Tree/Microorganism Interactions (IAM) laboratories are seeking a highly-qualified post-doctoral researcher to work on a joint project assessing the impacts of climate change on the establishment and development of crop and forest pathosystems in France. Climate change largely questions food security, but its impact on fungal diseases has been under explored, resulting in poor anticipation by management strategies designed to limit epidemics. The most significant work on climate change’s impact on diseases in France is related to forests, with INRA already having developed research models resulting in a fine description of plant x pathogen x climate interactions, as well as operational approaches largely used in forest health to identify and quantify the risks associated to future bioclimatic niches. The main objective of this post-doctoral appointment will be to improve these existing models and use them on a country-wide scale in order to identify areas favorable to the development of selected diseases, both for present and for future climates. This will be done for two forest foliar pathogens (Dothistroma Needle Blight disease on laricio pine and Diplodia pinea on pine) and two soft and durum wheat aerial fungi (stem and leaf rusts).
The successful candidate should hold a PhD with a background in epidemiology or agronomy/forestry, and also have experience in modeling. Excellent written and spoken skills in French or English are a must. The project is part of the larger framework of the newly started research network CLIF (Climate change and fungal diseases) within the INRA meta-programme, Adaptation of Agriculture and Forests to Climate Change. The successful candidate would join a group of approximately 30 scientists, including two international leaders in the field.
The appointment is for two years, with a provisional start date of July 2014. The candidate’s time would be split between the two labs, with 15 months spent at the Agroclim unit in Avignon (http://www6.paca.inra.fr/agroclim) and 9 months at the Tree/Microorganism Interactions unit in Nancy (https://mycor.iam.inrae.fr/IAM/)
Candidates must send their CV and a cover letter to Marie Launay (Agroclim, Avignon) mlaunay@avignon.inra.fr and Benoit Marcais (IAM, Nancy) benoit.marcais@nancy.inra.fr.
Candidates will be encouraged to apply for an AgreenSkills fellowship that will bring the gross monthly salary up to €3500. The next call for submission is 5 May 2014, 24:00 CET. To find out more about the programme and whether you are able to apply for a fellowship, visit www.agreenskills.eu
One of the AgreenSkills eligibility requirements is not having spent more than 12 months in France within the last 3 years immediately prior to the expected date of recruitment.
