PostDoc position in Aquatic Health Ecology

The Toulouse region has become a thriving research hub in France and an international renowned destination for high profile research and teaching. At the Institut National Polytechnique de Toulouse (Toulouse INP) located at the campus of the Ecole Nationale Supérieure Agronomique de Toulouse (ENSAT), a

PostDoc position in Aquatic Health Ecology

is available with earliest starting date in January 2023 and latest starting date in May 2023, with a duration of 24 months (maybe extensible).

About the position

The concepts of OneHealth and EcoHealth, as well as that of syndemics, stemming from medical anthropology all consider that human health and well-being is inextricably linked to wildlife, animal, as well as ecosystem health and is embedded in a highly complex socio-ecological system. Intensifying rates of pathogen emergence can be attributed to climate change, biodiversity loss, habitat degradation, and an increasing rate of wildlife-human contacts. All of these are caused by synergies between persisting intense poverty, social inequalities and a growing human population. The PostDoc will work in the EU-project OneAquaHealth and urban aquatic ecosystem. The PostDoc will analyse, how the growing anthropogenic impact on nature changes ecosystems, their health status and increases the risks for human wellbeing. The candidate will use existing ecosystem impact data, including climate variables, pollution, species-richness and abundance, and geographic variables, as priors to an ecosystem health assessment. The existing data will be complemented with newly acquired data by the consortium. This assessment will then be used to examine health risks for human wellbeing and will contribute to develop an early warning system for decision makers.

There are three larger missions foreseen

1. Assessing ecosystem health in European Urban aquatic ecosystems

2. Assessing the importance of urban aquatic ecosystems for human well-being

3. Linking urban aquatic ecosystem health to human well-being

Your profile:

• PhD or equivalent university degree in environmental sciences, socio-ecology, medical sciences.

• Expertise in meticulous laboratory work is essential (genomic and pollution dosage).

• Skills in the application of statistical tools and a strong interest in interdisciplinary work in environmental science, particularly in microbiome bioinformatics

• Ability to handle large datasets

• Combination of organizational skills and strong personal responsibility.

• Fluency in spoken and written French and English and the ability to work, communicate and interact in an international collaborative consortium.

Your potential tasks:

• Characterise contamination with organic micropollutants in urban aquatic ecosystems.

• Practical participation in sampling campaigns in different test sites across Europe

• Close collaboration with PhD students and PostDocs working on the analysis of organismic interactions and food-webs under the influence of micropollutants in urban aquatic ecosystem along urban gradients.

• Run microbiome analyses from the lab to the bioinformatics and linking these up to proxies of human, animal and plan health.

We offer:

• Top level interdisciplinary research at a research laboratory which enjoys an excellent reputation

• Excellent technical facilities

• Work in inter-disciplinary and multinational teams

• Excellent links to national and international research networks

Remuneration on the level of experience and as Research Engineer. For salary details check here:

https://www.snptes.fr/index.php?lvl=cmspage&pageid=4&id_article=308

Application deadline: 06.12.2022

Your contact for any questions you may have about the job:

Dirk S. Schmeller

Axa-Chair for Functional Mountain Ecology

dirk.schmeller@toulouse-inp.fr

About Toulouse INP

Toulouse INP was founded in 1969 and has a scientific, cultural and professional character due to its university status. Toulouse INP is engaging in training students, conducts scientific and technological research and, as a technical university, also maintains a range of industrial partnerships. The Toulouse INP is part of the Federal University of Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées with more than 112,000 students registered and delivering 850 doctoral degrees each year. Toulouse INP was the 1st Engineering School of French Agronomy to be ISO 14001 certified for its environmental approach, awarded in November 2016 the Trophée des Campus Responsables Francophones in Paris in the "sustainable commitment" category. Toulouse INP is also the second biggest French University for applied research with more than 7000 registered students and 900 researchers organized in 17 laboratories.