Senior Postdoctoral Fellow - Greenhouse Gas Measurement Science

• One of Australia’s leading research & teaching universities
• Vibrant campus life with a strong sense of community & inclusion
• Enjoy a career that makes a difference by collaborating & learning from the best

At UNSW, we pride ourselves on being a workplace where the best people come to do their best work.

The School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences (BEES) has over 148 academic staff and research staff, over 170 research students and 60 Honours students. BEES incorporates environmentally-relevant disciplines enabling the School to undertake comprehensive education and research in the mainstream disciplines of biology, geography and geology. This also provides students the opportunity for interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary studies.

The Senior Postdoctoral Fellow will join our Greenhouse Gas Measurement and modelling team at UNSW. The role will contribute to our world-leading research activities focused on assessing emissions from coal mining and other sources in the Hunter Coalfield region.

The team’s research outputs aim to advance the science of Greenhouse Gas Measurements, demonstrate how to best model the rate of Greenhouse Gas emissions from sources, inform community discussions on Greenhouse Gas emissions, inform the development of regional and national Greenhouse Gas monitoring programs, and provide insights for the development policies and legislation.

About the role

• $119K - $140K plus 17% Superannuation and annual leave loading
• Fixed Term – 2 years          
• Full time (35 hours)

The role of Senior Postdoctoral Fellow reports to Associate Professor Bryce Kelly and has no direct reports.

Specific responsibilities for this role include:

• Engage in individual and/or collaborative research in a manner consistent with disciplinary practice.
• Create scholarly impact in the discipline that is recognised by peers in the advancement of disciplinary knowledge.
• Conduct research/scholarly activities under limited supervision, either independently or as a member of a team (as per the norms of the discipline).
• Undertake specific research project/s under the guidance of a research leader that will be aimed at quantifying the rate of Greenhouse Gas emissions from coal mining and other sources in the Hunter Coalfield.
• Maintain and calibrate Greenhouse Gas analysers and other equipment used for the field campaigns.
• Undertake discipline-aligned research activities, e.g. field campaigns (including limited night-time surveys), literature reviews, data gathering and database management, and record keeping.
• Prepare maps in QGIS and 3D visualisations in Google Earth for outreach activities.
• Model and interpret the Greenhouse Gas concentration data collected from ground- and aircraft-based measurement campaigns to determine the rates of emissions from facilities and regions.
• Take leadership in writing project-required reports, media items and scientific journal articles.
• Contribute to and/or present at conferences and/or workshops aligned with the outreach requirements of projects.
• Support the dissemination of research outcomes through meetings with government and industry.
• Align with and actively demonstrate the UNSW Values in Action: Our Behaviours and the UNSW Code of Conduct.
• Cooperate with all health and safety policies and procedures of the university and take all reasonable care to ensure that your actions or omissions do not impact on the health and safety of yourself or others.

Skills and Experience(Selection Criteria)

To be successful in this role you will have:

• A PhD in a related discipline, and/or relevant work experience in a relevant discipline, such as: environmental science, atmospheric physics and chemistry, statistics, or modelling atmospheric flow.
• Demonstrated track record in research with outcomes of high quality and high impact with clear evidence of the desire and ability to continually achieve research excellence as well as the capacity for research leadership. This includes a proven capacity to write reports and peer-reviewed journal publications.
• Demonstrated ability to work in a team, collaborate across disciplines and build effective relationships.
• Relevant experience and applied knowledge in measuring Greenhouse Gas emissions and carbon accounting.
• Strong public communication and a record of presenting at workshops and conferences.
• Experience with field campaigns focused on measuring the atmospheric concentration of Greenhouse Gases using car- or aircraft-based analysers.
• Strong computational and statistical skills, with extensive experience analysing data using R statistics, Python packages or other programming languages, and knowledge of database systems.
• Familiarity with using satellite Greenhouse Gas observations datasets.
• Knowledge of Greenhouse Gas sources, in particular, methane.
• Familiarity with coal production methods and impacts on the environment.
• Familiarity with atmospheric modelling packages such as CALPUFF, AERMOD, FLEXPART, STILT or similar atmospheric modelling environments, and wellness to undertake plume modelling to achieve required project outcomes.
• Experience interpreting measurements of the concentrations of Greenhouse Gases in the atmosphere for determining the rates of emissions from facilities and regions.
• Experience verifying Greenhouse Gas inventories determined using IPCC and Australian Government protocols.
• An Australian driver’s license: the position will require undertaking multi-day field campaigns, including night-time surveys.
• An understanding of and commitment to UNSW’s aims, objectives and values in action, together with relevant policies and guidelines.
• Knowledge of health and safety responsibilities and commitment to attending relevant health and safety training.

You should systematically address the selection criteria listed within the position description in your application.

For informal queries, please see the below contact details. 

Otherwise, please apply online - applications will not be accepted if sent directly to the contact listed.

Contact:
Bryce Kelly
E: ***********@unsw.edu.au

Applications close: March 14th, 2024

Find out more about working at UNSW at www.unsw.edu.au

UNSW aspires to be the exemplar Australian university and employer of choice for people from diverse backgrounds. UNSW aims to ensure equality in recruitment, development, retention and promotion of staff and that no-one is disadvantaged on the basis of their gender, cultural background, disability, sexual orientation or identity or Indigenous heritage. We encourage everyone who meets the selection criteria to apply.

UNSW partners with Australia’s leading diversity organisations, networks, and campaigns. Please refer to UNSW’s diversity offerings for further information on our flexible work and leave options, and support for carers (childcare, parent rooms, parental leave).