University of Exeter

Position Title/Short Description

Full Text of JOE Listing:

This full-time post (funded by NERC Economics of biodiversity research grant(BIOADD)) is available from January 2023 on a fixed term basis for two years.

The post:
The Faculty wishes to recruit a Postdoctoral Research Associate or Fellow to support the work of Professor Ben Groom, the Dragon Capital Chair in Biodiversity Economics. The successful applicant will contribute to the objectives of the grant which is focussed on examining the economics of biodiversity additionality. They shall also be part of the Dragon Capital Chair programme that works more broadly on the economics of biodiversity and are expected to contribute to the broader goal of generating an evidence base on policies work to reverse biodiversity decline. The BIOADD project has co-investigators from the London School of Economics and Political Science (Department of Geography and Grantham Research Institute), SDSN Bolivia and CarbonPlan, and the role will require working and engaging with these partners.

The post will focus on developing an econometric evidence base using spatial and temporal data to analyse land-use change, focussing on an area of huge importance for biodiversity and ecosystem conservation and which are under threat: tropical rainforests. As part of this research programme, the successful applicant will address the causal economic and geographic drivers of habitat and ecosystem restoration and regeneration, which is particularly relevant given the UN Decade of Ecosystem Restoration (2021-2030). Work towards these objectives will be based on, inter alia, micro-econometric methods informed by economic theory and will typically focus on geographically referenced data sets (e.g. satellite land-use, spatial biodiversity data (e.g. eBird), weather and night lights). The post also entails contributing to the work of the BIOdiversity for Economics and CONservation (BIOECON) network (www.bioecon-network.com).

About you:
The successful applicant will be able to present information on research progress and outcomes, communicate complex information, orally, in writing and electronically and prepare proposals and applications to external bodies.

Applicants will possess a relevant PhD (or be nearing completion) or possess an equivalent qualification/experience in a related field of study and be able to demonstrate sufficient knowledge in the discipline and of research methods and techniques to work within established research programmes.

Applicants should have the following skills:

- Strong background in applied micro-econometrics;
- Experience applying econometric methods to economic and environmental problems;
- Knowledge of STATA, R and other relevant programming skills for undertaking applied analysis (e.g. machine learning) and handling large geographical or other data sets using GIS or related tools;
- Strong grounding in applied economics and environmental and resource economics or related discipline;
- An ability to work with interdisciplinary teams on issues concerning the environment, natural capital, ecosystem services and biodiversity.

For further information please contact Professor Ben Groom, B.D.Groom@exeter.ac.uk.