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Postdoctoral Fellowship

Employer
Ocean Frontier Institute
Location
Halifax, NS; St. John's, NL; Nunatsiavut (Canada)
Salary
ca. CAD$50,000
Closing date
Feb 6, 2021

Postdoctoral Fellowship Position: Knowledge Co-production and Transdisciplinary Approaches for Sustainable Nunatsiavut Futures

We are seeking a 2-year postdoctoral fellow (PDF) to join a transdisciplinary marine research project in Nunatsiavut, Labrador. The position will be held at Dalhousie University in Halifax and/or Memorial University of Newfoundland in St. John’s and will be co-supervised by Drs. Eric Oliver (Department of Oceanography, Dalhousie), Sue Ziegler (Department of Earth Sciences, Memorial), and Melanie Zurba (School for Resource and Environmental Studies and the College of Sustainability, Dalhousie). Anticipated start date for the position is March 1, 2021.

The Nunatsiavut Futures research project spans the natural and social sciences under the overarching goal of developing partnerships between academics and Indigenous communities to inform sustainable resource management of coastal systems in Canada’s North. Our project is structured as three research themes which (A) develop empirical understandings of dynamic coastal systems and (B) plan for changes in these dynamics through (C) transdisciplinary research and knowledge co-production with a wide range of partners.

Understanding and predicting change within these locally, regionally and globally significant ecosystems requires the co-development of research objectives and approaches. To accomplish this overarching objective, the project will design and execute field efforts that integrate community-engaged knowledge and monitoring with novel western science and modelling. We will use knowledge from this project to inform and support decision-making on spatial planning and resource management to provide the foundation for long-term monitoring and risk assessments of key species and habitats.

Individuals involved in this research are committed to collaborating with partners across disciplines and in local communities. Project members will centralize knowledge co-production processes to ensure that the research design, methods, and use of results transcend scientific disciplines and diverse cultures. Project members will work closely with Inuit community members and representatives in Nunatsiavut and have an interest in both community and academic engagement.

The PDF will have a PhD in oceanography, geography, earth science, environmental studies, or similar including skills in qualitative and quantitative data analysis and have experience in interdisciplinary work and collaboration with both social and natural sciences. The PDF will play a key role in Nunatsiavut climate change research and will assist with the coordination of the community-based monitoring logistics. The PDF’s research  will focus on bridging Western Science and Inuit Knowledge systems, for the purposes of understanding environmental change in Nunatsiavut’s coastal marine system. The research will combine novel modern scientific measurements and approaches, valuable historic measurements, present day Inuit observations, and generational Traditional Inuit Knowledge to understand how the coastal systems work and how change may be occurring. It is likely that the position will include travel between the University and communities in Nunatsiavut.

Applicants should send a cover letter, CV and short statement (1-2 page) of research interest to Drs. Eric Oliver (eric.oliver@dal.ca), Sue Ziegler (sziegler@mun.ca), and Melanie Zurba (melanie.zurba@dal.ca) by January 31, 2021.

We strongly encourage underrepresented members of our scientific communities to apply and also to approach any of us directly with any questions or concerns regarding support for your inclusion at our institutions, within our research communities and specific to this opportunity. 

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