Post-Doc Opportunity University of Victoria/Unversity of British Columbia, BC, CAN

Hakai Coastal Initiative Postdoc Position in Ocean Remote Sensing and spatial-temporal dynamic of coastal marine biophysical provinces of British Columbia and Southeast Alaska

Applications are being accepted for a Hakai Postdoctoral position at the  University of British Columbia, Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries, and the University of Victoria, Department of Geography as part of the Hakai Coastal Initiative. The postdoc will be based in Victoria, Vancouver Island, and work under the supervision of Dr. Costa at UVic and Dr. Hunt at UBC. The focus of the research is to derive the spatial-temporal dynamic of coastal marine biophysical provinces of British Columbia and Southeast
Alaska based on satellite imagery. The research is expected to address the following:
1. Define the spatial-temporal dynamic of the biogeochemical properties of the coastal oceans of British Columbia and Southeast Alaska? Task: Define the coastal marine biophysical provinces based on time series of Sentinel 3 derived products (2016 to present). This analysis will be used to identify spatially distinct Coastal Ocean Biogeochemical provinces and resolve coastal dynamics at high spatial resolution. (publication expected)
2. Conduct inter-comparison of Sentinel 3 and other products to address retrospective long term analysis (2002- present) of the coastal oceans of British Columbia and Southeast Alaska. Task: Investigate the integration of satellite-derived products at different temporal and scale resolutions to conduct long term analysis. (publication expected) The technical objective of the postdoc project: In collaboration with the Hakai Institute, the postdoc is expected to build upon the already developed imagery processing tools for batch processing of satellite imagery that can be operationally maintained by the Institute.

Ideal qualifications: A Ph.D. degree (completed by the time of appointment) in an optical remote sensing and oceanography and/or Earth systems discipline. Expertise in ocean colour remote sensing/ocean ecology biogeochemistry is ideal. Other fields of expertise to be considered include
oceanography, climate and atmospheric sciences, marine biogeochemistry, phytoplankton ecosystem ecology, scientific computing, and statistics.

Technical skills required: Programming skills (MATLAB®, python), statistical analysis skills, satellite imagery processing, analysis of multi-dimensional large data sets.

Application closure date: February 29, 2020.
Start date: As soon as possible

Position Length: Two years, pending annual review
Salary: $59,000 + benefits

Applicants must submit:
• A CV, including the e-mail and phone number for three references;
• A short cover letter explaining the applicant’s motivation for working on the project and how previous experience qualifies them for this position;
• Reprints of 3 published papers, if available;  Equity and diversity are essential for academic excellence. An open and diverse community fosters the inclusion of voices that have been underrepresented or discouraged. We encourage applications from members of groups that have been marginalized on any grounds enumerated under the B.C. Human Rights Code, including sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression,  racialization, disability, political belief, religion, marital or family status, age, arnd/or status as a First Nations, Metis, Inuit, or Indigenous person.

Submit applications to:
Maycira Costa (maycira@uvic.ca) and Brain Hunt (b.hunt@oceans.ubc.ca).

Overall project background:
The coastal oceans of BC and SE Alaska are highly complex, influenced by oceanographic, climatic, and  continental runoff processes that vary at different timescales. This region of interaction between continental runoff and the coastal ocean supports diverse food-webs and determines the habitat available to forage fish and salmon, and controls biogeochemical cycling. To date, no attempt has been made to characterize the spatial and temporal dynamics of the BC and SE Alaska coastal oceans. This limits, for example, our ability to understand the ocean conditions experienced by juvenile salmon along their migration route.

US Coastal Research Program 2020 Call for Proposals

In 2020, the USCRP intends to provide funds for competitive academic proposals addressing the topics described below. Academic proposals should align with or support federal research priorities to address critical research needs within the coastal community and advance the state of knowledge. These academic awards will also fund graduate students to help build the future U.S. coastal workforce.  Please click here for more information and upcoming informational webinars scheduled January 15 & 16, 2020.

Swiss Network for International Studies Grants Close Jan 15th!

SNIS Grants Call

The Swiss Network for International Studies (SNIS) offers project grants for pluri-disciplinary research teams. The project grants run for two years and range from 100’000 to 300’000 Swiss Francs. Project proposals by eligible institutions (Universities, Universities of Applied Science, Universities of Teacher Education) must qualify as:
  • International studies: The SNIS adopts an inclusive understanding of International studies. Therefore, research in international studies concerns issues that are pluri-disciplinary, relevant to the international agenda, and for which international cooperation is required to produce policy-relevant outputs. Issues may combine political, economic, social, environmental, historical, legal, health, scientific, and development dimensions of complex societal questions.
  • Pluri-disciplinary: Projects are pluri-disciplinary and they can include disciplines from both the social and natural sciences.

In addition to the above criteria, the SNIS strongly encourages collaborations with International Organizations and NGOs.

Thematically, submissions can be made in one of the following sections:

  • General call: In any area of International Studies as defined above.
  • Special theme 2020: What promising new forms of global governance and cooperation in response to the changed geopolitical order? Opportunities and challenges for non-state actors.

The full Call 2020 is also available as a pdf document: SNIS call 2020.pdf 

Submission deadline: 15th January 2020 at 13:00h (GMT +1)

Submit your pre-proposal on our website.

For any help with the submission or any other questions, don’t hesitate to contact projects@snis.ch.

Deadline Extended to March 31, 2020! GEO and Google Earth Project Proposals

Shared data means everything to Earth observation researchers. If we hope to solve global problems such as climate change, data is at the heart of finding answers to our sustainability questions. While data has become somewhat more accessible in recent years, we can’t take that accessibility for granted — every day, we need to promote the need for public use of Earth observation data.

Sharing is at the heart of GEO’s latest call to action for proposals. In partnership with Google, GEO will choose 25 project proposals to receive licenses for the sustained use of Google Earth Engine in a production environment, to be used by public sector and commercial recipients to tackle significant societal challenges and improve understanding of our planet.

We’re thankful that Google is providing these licenses, valued at US$3 million, to broaden the use of Earth observation data. In keeping with our goal of sharing data, we require that the chosen projects offer the results of their work to the open science community, including code, algorithms, datasets and results.

Rebecca Moore, Director of Google Earth Engine, and Gilberto Camara, Director of the Secretariat for GEO, announce the new GEO Google Earth Engine program.

Rebecca Moore, Director of Google Earth Engine, and Gilberto Camara, Director of the Secretariat for GEO, announce the new GEO Google Earth Engine program.

GEO is committed to ensuring that open Earth observations support sustainable development policies that are grounded in objective data and methods. We coordinate a work program of over 50 activities advancing the use of Earth observations to support better approaches and policies for managing our planet’s resources. The new Earth Engine license program will benefit our 130+ partners in over 100 countries so they can more effectively analyse large datasets.

Open data is instrumental in providing the necessary insights for assessing the constant changes on our planet. With these insights, decision makers can take the critical actions possible to address urgent environmental challenges — a goal at the core of GEO’s mission to enable better policies through open Earth observation data and knowledge. We believe that cloud services such as Earth Engine are the best method for GEO members and participating organizations to effectively mine insights from this data.

Earth observations from satellite imagery and in situ data offers a wealth of information about the world’s oceans, forests and key biodiversity indicators — key vital signs about the health of our planet.

Thirty-five years of shoreline and forest loss captured by Landsat satellite imagery. The data helps track changes in the condition of oceans, forests, and key biodiversity indicators.

Thirty-five years of shoreline and forest loss captured by Landsat satellite imagery. The data helps track changes in the condition of oceans, forests, and key biodiversity indicators.

Big data from openly available Earth observations offer a wealth of opportunities for the open science community to produce new research and applications, since these dataset supply critical, objective information about the world’s oceans, forests, and key biodiversity indicators. All of these represent vital signs regarding the health of our Earth’s ecosystems and will help measure the pulse of the planet.

If you’re a GEO member or partner (public sector or commercial organization) interested in proposing your project for a free Earth Engine license to be used in a sustained, production environment we’d love to hear from you. Please submit your proposal via this Application Form to dcripe@geosec.org by March 31, 2020.