PhD student Climate Impacts on Forest

The professorship of Hydrology and Climate Impacts in Mountain Regions at the WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF in Davos and the Department of Environmental Systems Science at ETH Zurich quantifies the hazard potential and water availability in mountain regions under global change. The group Hydrology and Climate Impacts has strong expertise in water resources, extreme value analyses, statistical modelling, and climate impact assessments and is looking, from autumn or winter 2022, for a

PhD student Climate Impacts on Forest Fires (f/m/d, 4 years)

You will work in the project ‘Forest fire extremes in mountain regions: past and future changes’. Forest fires in mountain regions can severely affect ecosystem functioning, air and water quality, and other natural hazards such as landslides or rock fall. While mountains are not the first region one may currently associate with forest fires, their fire regime may change in future because of increases in temperature and related changes in the snowline, snow cover and fuel moisture availability. Within this PhD project, you will assess climate impacts on forest fires in mountain regions including the European Alps using statistical modeling, machine learning, and climate model simulations. You will publish your results in scientific journals and present them at international conferences. The work location will be at SLF in Davos (https://www.slf.ch/en/index.html) and you will obtain a PhD degree at the Institute for Atmospheric and Climate Science at ETH Zurich (https://iac.ethz.ch/).

You hold a MSc degree in environmental sciences, climate sciences, or a closely related field. Experience with statistical modelling/machine learning and large datasets is desired and we seek candidates that have previous experience with programming languages (e.g. Python or R). We encourage applications from enthusiastic and dedicated individuals who have very good oral and written communication skills in English. You are motivated to work in an interdisciplinary and international working environment and you would enjoy living in a beautiful and varied mountain environment.

Please send your complete application (incl. certificate & transcript of your highest degree earned and an example of your own scientific writing in English) to Jasmine Zollinger, Human Resources WSL/SLF, by uploading the requested documents on our webpage (https://apply.refline.ch/273855/1365/pub/2/index.html). Applications via email will not be considered. Manuela Brunner (https://manuelabrunner.com/, phone +49 761 203 3509, e-mail manuela.brunner@slf.ch) will be happy to answer any questions or offer further information. The WSL strives to increase the proportion of women in its employment, which is why qualified women are particularly called upon to apply for this position. The job advertisement remains online until the position is filled.

Application: https://apply.refline.ch/273855/1365/pub/2/index.html