Research Fellow in Climate and Weather Information Services for Africa (ENVEE1190)

Are you an ambitious researcher looking for your next challenge?  Do you have a background in environmental social science, climate and weather services, international development, disaster risk management or a related field?  Do you want to further your career in one of the UK’s leading research intensive Universities?

As part of the major new African Science for Weather Information and Forecasting Techniques (African-SWIFT) project an exciting opportunity has arisen for a postdoctoral researcher to lead the identification of user needs, co-production and communication for climate and weather services focusing on West Africa and Kenya.
The RCUK funded GCRF African-SWIFT project is a £7.8 million programme of research and capability building funded by Research Councils UK that seeks to develop sustainable African weather forecasting capability to enhance the livelihood of African populations and improve the economies of their countries.

Supervised by Dr Andrea Taylor and Professor Andrew Dougill, the post will be based at the University of Leeds, and will involve studies based in both Ghana and Senegal, with lessons shared to project partners in Nigeria and Kenya. In Ghana, you will closely collaborate with Dr Philip Antwi-Agyei and a research assistant at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science & Technology (KNUST) in conducting document analysis, interviews with scientists from national and regional Met Services, and participatory workshops as well as interviews with user groups in key sectors (including agriculture, aviation, maritime, energy and emergency / disaster management). In Senegal, you will work with Dr Tanya Warnaars (Centre for Ecology and Hydrology) and partners at the national Senegalese Met Services to do similar work. You will work with providers and users of weather forecasts to identify strategies for communicating forecasts to different user groups and will provide mentoring to earlier career researchers in West Africa.

You will hold, or be close to finishing, a PhD in a related field. You will have excellent qualitative and quantitative research skills, communication skills, and an ability to effectively manage your own time. A commitment to delivering project outputs that build capacity in partner countries is essential, as is willingness to travel to the region.

To explore the post further or for any queries you may have, please contact:

Professor Andy Dougill, Dean of Faculty and Professor of Environmental Sustainability

Tel: +44 (0)113 343 6782, email: a.j.dougill@leeds.ac.uk

Closing Date: 05 Oct 2017
Category: Research