The Position:

We are seeking to appoint a motivated Postdoctoral Fellow to help develop a complete system to sense, map and model soil organic carbon at field and farm scales. The successful candidate will join a multidisciplinary team working within CSIRO Land and Water and the Sustainable Agriculture Flagship, and contribute to the following research:

• Develop field-deployed soil sensors to measure soil carbon, bulk density, soil water and related properties;
• Develop sensor-data fusion for 3-dimensional mapping of soil carbon stores and related properties;
• Develop data-model assimilation techniques to incorporate spatial data with a carbon simulation model to predict long-term soil carbon trends.

The Postdoctoral Fellow will conduct innovative research to develop and use sensors to measure soil organic carbon and related soil properties to improve its mapping and modelling.

Specifically you will:

• Contribute to research activities related to the development of soil sensing, mapping and modelling within the Soil and Landscape Science Program and the Sustainable Agriculture Flagship.
• Conduct original research on the development and use of soil sensing with different technologies and signal processing and sensor data-fusion algorithms.
• Research and develop methods for 3-dimentional mapping of soil organic carbon and related properties at field and farm scales.
• Research and develop methods for data-model assimilation.
• Disseminate research findings in internationally recognised scientific journals and through seminars and conference presentations/papers.
• Develop innovative concepts and ideas for further research.
• Contribute to the effective functioning of the research team.
• Participate in CSIRO’s postdoctoral training program.

Location:   Black Mountain, Canberra, ACT Australia
Salary:      $78K-$88K p.a. plus up to 15.4% superannuation
Tenure:      3 Year Term
Ref No.:     ACT13/02931

To be successful in this position you will need:

• A PhD in soil science, pedometrics, or other quantitative environmental science discipline.
• Demonstrated theoretical and practical knowledge of modern quantitative methods in soil and/or environmental science including a sound understanding of multivariate statistics, geostatistics and data mining.
• Good knowledge of soil sensing and modern analytical techniques including infrared (visible, near infrared and mid infrared) spectroscopy, gamma radiometrics, electromagnetic induction, x-ray fluorescence.
• An understanding and interest in the development and use of data-model assimilation and Bayesian statistical modelling.
• Strong skills in statistical programming with the R language, and working knowledge of general programming with languages such as C, Python or Labview (e.g. for data logging, sensor communication, signal processing, or GIS applications).
• Evidence of excellent written and oral communication skills including the ability to publish research results in scientific journals.
• A valid unrestricted driver’s licence. International candidates will be required to obtain an Australian driver’s licence if successful.

About the Soil and Landscape Science Program

The Soil and Landscape Science Program is one of the nine research programs in CSIRO Land and Water. The program currently has scientists with acknowledged international expertise in soil science, measurement and mapping of soil and landscape properties, soil carbon and nitrogen dynamics, soil-plant interactions and soil-plant systems modelling. The research capabilities from the program deliver mainly to the Sustainable Agriculture Flagship (http://www.csiro.au/Organisation-Structure/Flagships/Sustainable-Agriculture-Flagship.aspx).

Research in the program is closely aligned with Australia’s strategic direction in climate-sustainable land use research, agro-ecosystems modelling, and land resources management and planning research. The program carries out research in projects funded by many major clients including the Department of Climate Change, Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Department of Water Resources, GRDC and CRDC etc.