Le 13/12/2022 par Bill :
Open 18 months Post-Doctoral Position (2023-2024 / dates flexible)
Incorporating ecological functional interdependencies between species in the conception of economic biodiversity indices and optimal conservation strategies.
This open position is part of a work-package of the funded European research project:
HORIZON-CL6-2021-BIODIV-01-03- BIOOCEAN 5D: « MARINE BIODIVERSITY ASSESSMENT AND PREDICTION ACROSS SPATIAL, TEMPORAL AND HUMAN SCALES »
The main objective of BIOcean5D is to generate the data, knowledge, theory, monitoring and modeling tools needed to sustainably measure, understand, assess and predict marine biodiversity in the 5 dimensions (5D) of space, time and human environmental pressure, to enable ecosystem management and long-term conservation.
Within this project, one crucial work-package is dedicated to the modelling of the contribution of biological functions to the value of biodiversity in order to develop biodiversity value indices that integrate the functional relevance of species in an ecosystem.
The work-package and post-doctoral position will be based at two locations and the research co-supervised by two PIs:
Institut Jean-Nicod UMR 8129 Ecole Normale Supérieure, Paris , Environment : concepts and norms team, [contact : Sacha Bourgeois-Gironde : sbgironde@gmail.com]
Theoretical and Experimental Ecology Station, National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), Moulis, [contact: Jose M. Montoya, Research Director, josemaria.montoyateran@sete.cnrs.fr ]
The candidate will have a PhD and a high-level research and recommendation track in either mathematics, mathematical economics, or theoretical ecology. We look for an ideal combination of advanced mathematical competences, deep interest for ecological (biodiversity) modelling and computer simulation skills; so that the candidate will be able to technically review and understand the relevant literature and to theoretically and mathematically build and innovate on the issue described below.
The starting point is a reconsideration of Weitzman’s model of biodiversity-value ranking by taking into account the relative importance and functional interdependencies of several species within an ecosystem. The literature review starts with the seminal Weitzman’s “Noah's ark problem” [Econometrica, 1998, 1279-1298] and focuses on subsequent attempts to incorporate functional dependencies between species, rather than an isolated uniqueness factor, in the final ranking in view of conservation strategies.
Therefore, the candidate, before answering this call, is invited to check her or his ability to grasp the problem and the direction we give to it by considering the following:
- Gerber, N. (2011). Biodiversity measures based on species-level dissimilarities: A methodology for assessment. Ecological Economics, 70(12), 2275-2281.
- Courtois, P., Figuieres, C., & Mulier, C. (2014). Conservation priorities when species interact: the Noah's ark metaphor revisited. PloS one, 9(9), e106073.
- Perry, N., & Shankar, S. (2017). The state-contingent approach to the Noah's Ark problem. Ecological Economics, 134, 65-72.
Innovative mathematical approach in the domain are very welcome (combinatorics, game-theory, number-theory are good perspectives to take for instance) as well as the ability to numerically simulate the constructed indices on real data and ecosystems.
The first stage of application is through interviews with the supervisors:
Sacha Bourgeois-Gironde: sbgironde@gmail.com
José Montoya : josemaria.montoyateran@sete.cnrs.fr
Before hiring procedure through the CNRS contractualization mechanism.
