Postdoc position: “Cumulative Impacts of Pressures in Wadden Sea”

The Department of Coastal Systems (COS) of NIOZ, in collaboration with Wageningen Marine Research (WMR), is looking for a Post-doctoral Researcher to advance a mechanistic understanding of the impact of pressures on the health and spatial distribution of flora and fauna in the Wadden Sea ecosystem.

THE INSTITUTE

NWO-NIOZ Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research is the national oceanographic research institute. The mission of NIOZ is to perform academically excellent multidisciplinary fundamental and frontier-applied marine research addressing important scientific and societal questions pertinent to the functioning of oceans and seas. Second, NIOZ serves as national marine research facilitator (NMF) for The Netherlands scientific community. In this role, NIOZ stimulates and supports national and international marine research, marine education programs and marine policy development.

THE DEPARTMENT

The post-doc will be employed at NIOZ COS. The Department of COS integrates state-of-the art laboratory, field and numerical modelling studies in frontier explorations of the drivers of the dynamics of marine habitats and food webs. COS examines how physical, chemical and biological processes interact to determine the distribution, composition and productivity of marine species - from primary producers to top predators - and marine habitats - from the coast to inter/sub-tidal and pelagic environments. Research is applied at both the regional and global scales to provide knowledge needed for climate adaptation and mitigation and for biodiversity protection and restoration.

The post-doc will collaborate with researchers at Wageningen Marine Research (WMR), part of Wageningen University and Research. WMR is a scientific institute for strategic and applied marine ecological research. With knowledge, independent scientific research and advice, the aim of Wageningen Marine Research is to substantially contribute to more sustainable and more careful management, use and protection of natural riches in marine, coastal and freshwater areas.

Work at NIOZ COS and WUR WMR provides science-based advice on the consequences of anthropogenic activities on biodiversity and its capacity to supply ecosystem services to guide conservation management

THE PROJECT

Marine SABRES (Marine Systems Approaches for Biodiversity Resilience and Ecosystem Sustainability - https://www.marinesabres.eu/) is an EU research project that is designed to conserve and protect biodiversity by integrating healthy, sustainably-used ecosystems and a resilient blue economy. To mitigate the pressures impacting marine social-ecological systems, effective management of marine and coastal environments is essential — not only to achieve international biodiversity goals (such as the EU Biodiversity Strategy), but also in combating the threats of climate change (e.g. ocean warming, sea level rise, acidification, marine heatwaves, increased storminess) and environmental degradation (e.g. pollution and eutrophication). Actions such as maintaining healthy fish stocks and choosing appropriate spaces for marine renewable energy can reduce human impact on the ocean while ensuring that human needs are met sustainably. To do this, MarineSABRES brings together an interdisciplinary team of leading experts in the environmental, social, and physical sciences, stakeholder engagement, and science communication from 21 partner organisations from eleven European countries. The focus of NIOZ and WMR is on developing tools for management actions that help rebuild the health and biodiversity of the Wadden Sea by understanding the cumulative risk from multiple pressures and developing advice to guide decision-makers and (regional) managers.

THE VACANCY

The main goal of this Post-doctoral Researcher is to better understand pressure-state relationships for ecologically and commercially important species to advance spatially-explicit, cumulative risk assessment. To understand the current status of the flora and fauna, the post-doc will collaborate with experts to:

• examine the effects of a host of local and regional activities (e.g. from fishing, tourism, aquaculture, coastal development) including management interventions (e.g. marine protected areas, active restoration of habitat-forming species);
• apply statistical and mechanistic (e.g. ecophysiological) methods to better understand the fundamental versus realized niches and how these niches correspond to spatial differences in vital rates (survival, growth, reproduction);
• understand how realized niches and spatial differences in vital rates may respond to climate change effects (e.g. warming, marine heatwaves, storminess, acidification);
• integrate this knowledge to better understand how multiple pressures have caused present-day distributions;
• provide quantitative information on pressure-state relationships to be applied within spatially-explicit cumulative risk assessment for the western (Dutch) Wadden Sea ecosystem.

THE CANDIDATE

• You have a PhD degree in marine science or a related discipline.
• You have a broad understanding of the life cycle dynamics of the flora and fauna inhabiting coastal habitats in northern Europe (ecological status).
• You have a broad understanding of the local and regional pressures and activities impacting the health and biodiversity of coastal marine ecosystems.
• You have a working knowledge of pressure-state relationships in shallow-water flora and fauna based on either developing or applying conceptual and theoretical models and/or empirical studies (e.g. laboratory experiments, field experiments or monitoring).
• You are dedicated to contributing science to improve management actions to better conserve, protect and restore good environmental status to the Dutch Wadden Sea.
• You are proactive, independent, flexible, creative and work well within teams.
• You have strong communication skills (written and oral) in English. A firm understanding of Dutch is not a prerequisite but is a benefit.

NIOZ wants to be a transparent institute with a healthy working climate and an inclusive culture, where people from diverse backgrounds and gender bring their talents and further develop these talents. We aim for inclusive decision-making processes and expect our leadership to show visible commitment, awareness of bias, and cultural intelligence.

CONDITIONS

• Employment of this full-time position at Royal NIOZ is by NWO-I for a duration of 18 months.
• Salary compliant with CAO-WVOI  (Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Research Institutes) scale 10 or 11 depending on relevant experience.
• The freedom to fulfil your role and space and opportunities for your personal (talent) development with the help of the NIOZ Academy.
• 338 annualized holiday hours for a full-time 40-hour work week.
• Pension scheme via ABP, 8% holiday allowance and a year-end bonus of 8.33%.
• 2nd class public transportation travel is reimbursed 100%.
• Employment benefits plan to exchange a portion of your salary for days off or vice versa, or can be used to purchase a bicycle with tax benefits.
• We offer relocation expenses for employees coming from abroad and support with finding accommodation.

MORE INFORMATION

For additional information about this vacancy, please contact Prof. Myron A. Peck. For additional information about the procedure, please send an e-mail to working@nioz.nl

Closing date for this vacancy is 20^th December 2024. We hope to fill the position in February 2025.