Post-doctoral Fellow in Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems (SAFS).

The Department of Environment, Agriculture and Geography at Bishop’s University in Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada, seeks to appoint a highly qualified candidate with a strong interest in sustainable food systems for a full-time, 2-year funded post-doctoral fellow position in Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems (SAFS). The successful candidate will have the opportunity to apply for external funding agencies if they wish to continue their research at Bishop’s in subsequent years.

The SAFS Postdoctoral Fellow will undertake a program of original research under the supervision of Dr. Vivian Valencia (Research Chair in Sustainable Agriculture and Climate Action) and Dr. Darren Bardati (Director of SAFS) and in collaboration with the SAFS faculty team (www.ubishops.ca/safs).

The successful candidate will join an ongoing research program to investigate how to foster a transformation towards more sustainable food systems. This program focuses on the study of ‘lighthouse’ farms, that is, extraordinary farms and farming systems that operate in ways that reduce ecological footprint, improve biodiversity conservation, increase the use of ecological processes for crop production, and integrate gender equity and social justice. The postdoc will conduct interdisciplinary research to answer research questions such as what are the conditions (e.g., environmental, institutional, and socio-economic) under which ‘lighthouse’ farms and farming systems develop, and how can we use lighthouse farms as the basis to co-design transformation pathways with diverse stakeholders to examine alternative agrifood system futures that are radically progressive yet proven to be attainable. This research may be conducted with farmers in Quebec and/or Latin America, particularly, in Mexico, Colombia, Cuba or Brazil. The candidate should specify in their research proposal if they have a preference for either of the aforementioned research locations, and experience working there.

Key responsibilities:

Under the supervision of Drs. Valencia and Bardati, the selected candidate will be responsible for:

• Research conceptualization
• collection of quantitative and qualitative data (e.g., surveys, farm assessments, interviews, workshops),
• Data analysis
• Report writing in English

• Publication in peer-reviewed journals and other non-scientific outlets (e.g., blogs, newspaper articles)

Required:

• PhD in relevant natural or social sciences fields such as agroecology, agricultural sciences, rural sociology, geography, environmental resource management, or related fields

• Experience in interdisciplinary work
• A proven track record demonstrating research skills
• Experience in conducting field work with farm and/or food system actors
• Experience in collecting and analyzing social and/or environmental data
• Ability to work independently and as part of a team
• Strong scientific writing and communication skills and a track record of academic publications
• Interest to collaborate in a multi-disciplinary research team
• Ability to travel
• English language proficiency

Recommended:

• Experience in transdisciplinary work
• Experience in statistics
• Working French communication skills if field work is conducted in Quebec
• Working Spanish or Portuguese communication skills if field work is conducted in Latin America

This position will be based at the Department of Environment, Agriculture, and Geography at Bishop’s University, located in Quebec’s Eastern Townships. The region is renowned for its agro-tourism, organic and community-supported food production, and a growing culture of entrepreneurship within the context of sustainable agriculture. Bishop’s 500-acre campus includes a new 140-acre Educational  Farm (www.ubishops.ca/farm), which is currently under development. The farm will be a showpiece of sustainable agriculture design, and serve as the setting for the SAFS programs’ practical teaching and research projects.

Bishop’s University observes an equal access employment in public bodies for women, visible minorities, ethnic minorities, Indigenous and disabled people (including the possibility of accommodation during the selection process). Candidates who anticipate needing accommodation for any part of the process may contact Human Resources at HR@ubishops.ca. In accordance with Canadian immigration requirements, priority will be given to Canadian citizens and permanent residents, but all qualified candidates are encouraged to apply.

The salary is $45 000/year, and the successful applicant is expected to start September 1, 2023, or before. Application packages, include:

• cover letter
• curriculum vitae
• one research statement (maximum four pages) addressing (1) research achievements and (2) proposal for what research the candidate would like to conduct under this postdoctoral fellowship

• one writing sample (first authored)
• names and contact information of three referees who are willing to be contacted

All documents must be sent by email as one PDF file, labelled by last name-Postdoc (e.g., SmithPostdoc.pdf) to Jiayi Gu at jgu@ubishops.ca. Review of applications will begin on May 20, 2023, and will continue until the position is filled. Only those selected for an interview will be contacted.

Bishop’s University is located on the traditional territory of the Abenaki people.

 

Vivian Valencia, PhD

Research Chair in Sustainable Agriculture and Climate Action

Bishop’s University

+1 438 372-3756

vvalenci@ubishops.ca

https://www.linkedin.com/in/vivianvalencia/

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Vivian_Valencia

@vivi817

Annually, the Pacific Regional Society of Soil Science accepts nominations and applications for the Warkentin Prize.

THE WARKENTIN PRIZE 2023 

Eligibility 

1. The applicant or nominee must be currently enrolled in or graduated in the past two years from a full-time graduate program at a British Columbia post-secondary institution in the area of soil science
2. The applicant or nominee must be a current PRSSS member
3. Previous recipients of the award are not eligible for subsequent awards 4. The PRSSS accepts applications and nominations from PRSSS and CSSS members

Warkentin Prize Announcement

Deadline for applications is May 31, 2023.

Thank you and best regards,

The PRSSS Executive

—

Visit us on the web: prsss.ca, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn

Scholarship overview: 

The purpose of the scholarships stream is to assist Japanese Canadian Descendants and Survivors with funding for: (1) Undergraduate Studies or Vocational and Career Studies at Canadian post-secondary institutions (Category 1); (2) Graduate Studies at Canadian post-secondary institutions (Category 2); and (3) Japanese Canadian Legacy Scholarships: Undergraduate Studies, Vocational and Career Studies, or Graduate Studies at Canadian post-secondary institutions that involve the study of subjects that are aligned with the history of Japanese Canadians and/or the impact that the history has had on the Japanese Canadian community (Category 3).

WHO CAN APPLY

• Applicants for all categories of the scholarships stream (see category eligibility requirements below) must be enrolled in an eligible post-secondary institution in Canada during the first intake period of study: August 1, 2023 to December 31, 2024.
• The applicant can be engaged in Full-time Studies or Part-time Studies.
• Applicants can apply in a single category or apply in both Category 1 and Category 3, or in both Category 2 and Category 3, but funding may only be provided to an applicant in one category.

CATEGORY 1 | Undergraduate Studies or Vocational and Career Studies 

Japanese Canadian Descendant or Survivor engaged in Undergraduate Studies or Vocational and Career Studies at an eligible Canadian post-secondary institution.

CATEGORY 2 | Graduate Studies 

Japanese Canadian Descendant or Survivor engaged in Graduate Studies at an eligible Canadian post-secondary institution.

CATEGORY 3 | Japanese Canadian Legacy Scholarship

Japanese Canadian Descendant or Survivor engaged in Undergraduate Studies, Vocational and Career Studies, or Graduate Studies at an eligible Canadian post-secondary institution that involve the study of subjects aligned with the history of Japanese Canadians and/or the impact that the history has had on the Japanese Canadian community.

CONTACT INFORMATION

If you have any questions after reading these Application Guidelines and the Frequently Asked Questions, please contact the JCLS: community@jclegacies.com.

Any general inquiries to the JCLS Project Office can be directed to: info@jclegacies.com.

Scholarships – Japanese Canadian Community Funds (jclegaciesfund.com)

REMINDER: Internal Deadline: Friday, May 5th 2023.
Please notify us about your attention of applying (as we need to prepare transcripts) by April 24, 2023.

Spring Graduate Awards Competition

A number of university awards for the upcoming academic year are available to current and incoming graduate students.  The maximum value of funding that can be offered to a student is $16,000, or $22,000 for the #6495 Andrew Nord Fellowships in Rheumatology.  Applicants will apply via their graduate programs with a single application that may be considered for as many of the Spring Graduate Awards as they are eligible for, taking note of the following important considerations:

• Eligibility: To be eligible to receive funding, applicants must meet both the overall eligibility requirements as outlined on the award webpage (ex. months of study) and all of the eligibility requirements for each individual Spring Graduate Award they apply for. Applicants will not be considered for an award if they do not clearly meet the criteria for the award.
  Spring Graduate Awards Competition – Graduate School – University of British Columbia – Vancouver – Canada (ubc.ca)
• Selection:   While award recipients will be selected based on the evaluation criteria, priority will be given to eligible candidates who do not hold significant scholarship funding (i.e., $16,000 or higher) for the 2023/2024 academic year (September 2023 to August 2024).  If a student is offered Spring Awards funding, and later receives other scholarship funding of $16,000 or higher for the same period, the Spring Awards funding offer would normally be rescinded.
  • Exception: Some of the Spring Graduate Awards have very niche award descriptions (eligibility requirements).  For example, the #6362 award ‘James and Setsuko Thurlow Scholarship in Peace and Disarmament Studies’.  If a Spring Graduate Award receives a very low number of eligible applications, it may be awarded to a student who already has significant scholarship funding.

 

A complete application consists of:

• Completed Application Form – PART 1
• Completed Application Form – PART 2
• Canadian CCV – CGS-Master’s version
• Up-to-date, complete transcripts for all undergraduate and graduate studies (including studies undertaken but not completed) up to December 31, 2022. Official transcripts are preferred. Unofficial transcripts will be accepted in cases where applicants were not able to obtain an official transcript in time for the deadline. If an applicant is providing an unofficial transcript, it must still be authentic, complete and up to date.
• One recommendation letter/form. (In some cases, a reference letter submitted for a previous scholarship competition may be used; see the application instructions for details.)

Deadline for graduate program nominations to G+PS: 4:00 pm PT on May 22, 2023

For more information, such as the complete eligibility requirements and application materials, please refer to our webpage: https://www.grad.ubc.ca/awards/spring-graduate-awards-competition.

The results of this competition will be announced in mid-August.