Postdoc: Phosphorus Limitations in Shifting Cultivation Systems

About the role

The Global Critical Zone Science Chair (GCZSC), jointly hosted by LSCE (France) and UM6P (Morocco), offers a 2-year postdoctoral fellowship split between the two countries. The research focuses on emerging phosphorus limitations in shifting cultivation systems of Central Africa and their implications for cash crop yields and carbon sequestration. The project uses the ORCHIDEE CNP land surface model, calibrated with field trial and satellite data.

Key responsibilities

• Use the ORCHIDEE CNP model to simulate biogeochemical cycles under shifting cultivation with varying forest regeneration times
• Calibrate the model with crop yield responses from fertilizer trials (with OCP Nutricrops) and satellite-observed forest biomass recovery
• Integrate the model across environmental conditions and test different yields and forest rotation lengths
• Produce a first publication on carbon and nutrient budgets at system level, then integrate phosphorus fertilizer practices in subsistence cropping systems
• Assess potential carbon credit revenues for farmers and their impact on land use and emissions

Required profile

• PhD or Master's degree in environmental sciences, agronomy, applied mathematics, computer science or equivalent
• Autonomy, teamwork and time management skills
• Experience in multidisciplinary teams and effective communication with project partners

Required skills

• Programming, preferably in Fortran, Python or R
• Remote sensing data processing and analysis
• Knowledge of biogeochemical cycles
• Experience with process-oriented modeling

Applicants apply through UM6P with a CV, statement of motivation, answers to the selection criteria and two references.