postdoc

Research/Post-doc positions @ Institute for Humanity and Nature, Kyoto, Japan

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The Research Institute for Humanity and Nature (RIHN) in Kyoto, Japan is looking to fill four, full-time research positions (one senior project researcher, three project researchers) for the “Lifeworlds of Sustainable Food Consumption and Production: Agrifood Systems in Transition” (FEAST Project) to begin in April 2016.

Taking a bottom-up, action research approach, this interdisciplinary project seeks to understand and catalyze sustainable agrifood transition through the co-creation of new communities of social practice and collective action at locations in developed and emerging Asian countries.  The project looks to combine and advance three particular realms of research: 1) alternative food network and sustainable food planning research that seeks to define appropriate scales for “foodsheds” and supports evidenced-based, collaborative approaches to agrifood governance, 2) sustainable consumption research on the critical socio-cultural elements that shape human behavior in diverse Asian contexts, and 3) socio-technical transition research on the effectiveness of community futures envisioning, valorization, and market transparency based interventions.

Minimum Requirements
•   PhD in relevant field
•   Experience or knowledge working in Asia (in particular, Japan, China, Thailand, Bhutan)
•   Ability to communicate and write in English; Ability to speak Japanese is beneficial but not essential

Submission Deadline:  January 15th, 2016

Full descriptions of each of the four positions can be found at this link: http://www.chikyu.ac.jp/rihn_e/job.html

For more information on the Research Institute for Humanity and Nature: http://www.chikyu.ac.jp/rihn_e/index.html (English); http://www.chikyu.ac.jp/ (Japanese)

Postdoctoral Research Day – September 17

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SAVE THE DATE for the Postdoctoral Research Day hosted by the UBC PDA

All postdocs, research associates, PhD students, and faculty are welcome.

When: Wed Sept 17, 2:00pm-6:00pm (with food and beverage to follow)
Where: UBC Life Sciences Centre, Room LSC3 and West Atrium

This event will be an opportunity for interested participants to showcase their work, meet peers, and increase their visibility! Registration to present a talk or a poster will open in mid-August. Stay tuned for more details on our website,Twitter, or Facebook page.

Interested guests can send their questions to ubc.postdoc@gmail.com.

Please help distribute widely! We look forward to strengthening connections within the research community.

Postdoctoral Fellowship: Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

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Background: On behalf of the Government of Canada, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) undertakes research to achieve security of the food system, health of the environment and innovation for growth. Within this broad mandate, an important objective is to assess and to manage the risks to environmental quality and public health created by agriculture. We are therefore focussing our current research efforts on developing the life cycle assessment capabilities of the Holos model in order to
provide producer, producer groups, and scientists with a tool to assess the energy efficiency of Canadian farming systems, an estimate that will contribute to the accuracy of carbon footprint calculations and to assessing environmental footprints.

Description of the post-doctoral work: The successful candidate will focus on creating a life cycle inventory with respect to Canadian farm energy use for the Holos model, an AAFC farm-level greenhouse gas calculator intended for development as an environmental impact tool. To start, the candidate will revisit existing farm energy models (e.g., GHGenius and F4E2), and use the gained insight to improve farm machine use considerations (energy use, GHG emissions) within the Holos model. This involves assessing the types of energy used in consultation with the Holos development team. The candidate will build an energy budget (in- vs. outputs), based on understanding gleaned from scientific
literature and other sources. The candidate will report findings to collaborating scientists and at Holos workshops. Scientific publications will focus on a) life cycle inventory building, b) model development, and c) scenario analysis. The candidate will join the HOLOS development team at the Lethbridge Research Centre.

[See full position description]