About the role
The University of Sussex is seeking a Post-Doctoral Ecologist to lead the Nature Sense initiative. This role involves establishing and managing a network of biodiversity and land use monitoring stations in the South Coast counties. The goal is to collect and analyse data on the state of nature and the benefits nature provides people to help improve land use and management decisions.
The Post-Doctoral Ecologist will oversee data collection on habitat diversity, vegetation, ecoacoustics, and species composition and abundance. They will also monitor soil health, food and timber production, and land management practices.
The role requires collaboration with interdisciplinary teams to support sustainable land management. The successful candidate will contribute to long-term research projects aimed at addressing the biodiversity and climate crises.
This position offers an opportunity to make a significant impact on nature recovery and sustainable land use. The Post-Doctoral Ecologist will play a key role in advancing the University's commitment to a sustainable future.
About you
We are looking for a dedicated and skilled Post-Doctoral Ecologist with a PhD in ecology. The ideal candidate will have extensive experience in ecological surveying techniques relevant to the Nature Sense initiative. You will be adept at managing your own workload and providing support to colleagues when needed. Clear and effective communication with line managers and stakeholders is essential. You should be innovative, with strong problem-solving abilities to address the challenges of reliable data collection, analysis and dissemination. Entrepreneurial skills and experience are highly valued, as you will play a key role in expanding the Nature Sense network.
The successful candidate will be passionate about ecology and sustainability. You will bring a proactive approach to your work, contributing to the long-term success of the Nature Sense initiative.
About our School
In the School of Life Sciences we strive to understand the mechanisms that drive biological and chemical processes and to develop innovative and diverse approaches to enhance human health, technology and the environment. We undertake multidisciplinary research, teaching and engagement across a wide range of subjects, from Chemistry through Cellular and Molecular Biosciences to Conservation Biology.
The School comprises five Departments: Biochemistry & Biomedicine, Genome Damage and Stability Centre, Neuroscience, Ecology & Evolution and Chemistry. We also house the Sussex Drug Discovery Centre which works to deliver the bench-to-bedside translation of our discoveries. The breadth and depth of our cutting-edge research and innovative teaching practice is delivered by a diverse community who work across boundaries to deliver excellence, engage with real world problems and produce impact.
We pride ourselves on our world-leading research and have a strong research economy, with approximately 50% of our income stemming from research and an active grant portfolio of over £50 million. We host or form part of three University Centres of Excellence: the Genome Damage and Stability Centre, Sussex Neuroscience and Sussex Sustainability Research Programme. In the 2021 Research Excellence Framework, 90.6 % of our Biological Sciences outputs and 84.8% of our Chemistry outputs were rated as world-leading or internationally excellent. We are proud that in both areas, 100% of our Impact cases were rated as world-leading or internationally excellent.
The School is committed to the University's core values of kindness, integrity, inclusion, collaboration and courage. We believe that equality, diversity and inclusion is everyone's responsibility and aim to provide a friendly and supportive environment for all who work, study and visit the School of Life Sciences.
Please find further information regarding the School of Life Sciences on our website.
The School of Life Sciences is proud to hold a Silver Athena Swan Award.
Why work here
Our university is situated off the A27, next to the beautiful South Downs where you will enjoy everything that our 150-acre campus has to offer. We are accessible by public transport; Falmer train station is a five-minute walk to campus and several bus stops are located within campus. We also have dedicated cycling paths and encourage our staff to use these with our offering of a cycle to work scheme.
Sussex is a renowned, multi-accredited, research-led International University and this is only possible because of the people that work here. Whether you are a member of Faculty, part of a Professional Services team or a Student, it's our people that make us great and we want you to be part of that.
Find out more about our reward and benefits package.
Find out about our equality, diversity and inclusion
Further Key Information
Please contact Dr Christopher Sandom (c.sandom@sussex.ac.uk) for informal enquiries.
For full details and how to apply see our vacancies page.
The University is committed to equality and valuing diversity, and applications are particularly welcomed from women and black and minority ethnic candidates, who are under-represented in academic posts in Science, Technology, Engineering, Medicine and Mathematics (STEMM) at Sussex.
Please note that this position may be subject to ATAS clearance if you require visa sponsorship.
The University requires that work undertaken for the University is performed in the UK.
Visa Sponsorship Queries: This role has been assigned an eligible SOC code, and meets the salary requirements for Skilled Worker Sponsorship if full time. Please consult our Skilled Worker Visa information page for further information about Visa Sponsorship.
