Research Fellow in Stakeholder Engagement in Climate Services for Mediterranean Agriculture

Are you an ambitious researcher looking for your next challenge? Do you have a background in climate services? Do you want to further your career in one of the UK’s leading research intensive Universities?

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a researcher to conduct research on stakeholder engagement, assessment of user requirements, and co-development of climate services for agriculture in the Mediterranean region. This position is funded by Horizon 2020 as part of the project MED-GOLD - ‘Turning climate-related information into added value for traditional MEDiterranean Grape, OLive and Durum wheat food systems’. The MED-GOLD project aims to co-develop (between scientists and stakeholders operating in the agricultural sector) climate services for olive, grape, and durum wheat crop systems that are the basis for producing olive oil, wine and pasta. This post is based in Leeds and will involve coordinating and developing activities to engage communities (stakeholders and other potential users in the agriculture sector) in Europe.

Tasks will include assembling and managing a community of stakeholders, the development and implementation of a survey, the creation and management of an online forum, and running participatory workshops. All of these activities aim to engage scientists with stakeholders in order to co-validate, co-exploit and co-assess the usability and value of the climate services being developed within MED-GOLD.In addition, you will contribute to other project tasks such as the analysis of existing literature; the development of a survey looking at the main vulnerabilities, critical activities and decisions pursued within and across the sectors of interest, and; the assessment of user information needs to better support those decisions. You will also collaborate with Dr Marta Bruno Soares on the development of strategic guidelines to be applied by project partners. This role will involve close collaboration with project partners as well as interaction and engagement with external organisations.The post-holder will be hosted by the Climate Change Adaptation Group lead by Prof. Suraje Dessai and based at the Sustainability Research Institute. There will also be opportunities to interact with the Priestley International Centre for Climate and the ESRC Centre for Climate Change Economics and Policy at the University of Leeds.

To explore the post further or for any queries you may have, please contact: Dr Marta Bruno Soares, Met Office University Academic FellowTel: +44 (0)7769 830846, email: m.soares@leeds.ac.uk