PhD / postdoc position at KU Leuven - Interactions between river-geomorphology, carbon transport and floodplain carbon sequestration

[mag.christ...@gmail.com]

Within the department of Earth & Environmental Sciences and the department of Civil Engineering at KU Leuven, we are looking for highly motivated candidates to take up PhD or Postdoc positions focusing on the role of flood events and floodplain interactions on sediment and carbon fluxes in the Tana and Sabaki River (Kenya). While we aim for PhD positions which offer a scholarship for 4 years, for one of the topics we will consider applications for a Postdoc position with an expected duration of 2 – 2.5 years. This is a collaborative research project between the department of Civil Engineering, division Hydraulics and Geotechnics and the department of Earth & Environmental Sciences divisions of Geography, Soil and Water Management. The candidates will work in close collaboration with each other, and will benefit from links with other ongoing research projects on complementary topics.

Rivers link many parts of the landscape and through hydrologic connectivity with their floodplains were shown to be able to store significant amounts of organic carbon (OC) worldwide. Terrestrial organic carbon transport, transformation or storage is inextricably intertwined with the geomorphological landscape configuration resulting from the transport, erosion and deposition of sediments. However the interactions between geomorphology and floodplain carbon dynamics are poorly understood.

The project will use the Tana and Sabaki rivers in Kenia as reference systems, to first quantify the interactions between floodplain morphodynamics and C storage and subsequently create a numerical model framework able to predict how changes in river morphology affect C storage.

This will be achieved through a combination of eco-morphodynamic and biogeochemical approaches:

PhD1(4 years) or PostDoc1(2 years) will focus on a combination of high-frequency in situ measurements, numerical modelling of flow, sediment transport, eco-morphology (TELEMAC-GAIA) and eco-hydraulic flume experiments.

PhD2 (4 years) will focus on high-frequency in situ measurements and sampling for a wide range of biogeochemical parameters and characterization of sediments and associated carbon (including radionuclide measurements and stable isotope analyses), budgeting sediment and carbon fluxes in floodplains.

Applications for this position can be submitted between the 1^st of July 2023 and the 18^th of August 2023, we solicit applications from both PhD (position 1 and 2) or PostDoc candidates (position 1). Candidates should be fluent in English, have a background in hydrology, biogeochemistry (PhD1), and/or hydraulics, numerical modeling and geomorphology (PhD/Postdoc). Due to the interdisciplinarity of the project, both candidates should be highly motivated to combine both extensive field campaigns with lab work, experiments and modelling. The expected starting data is the 1^st of October 2023 or shortly after.

Interested candidates should send a CV  and motivation letter (pdf) before 18th of August 2023 by e-mail to Christian Schwarz and Steven Bouillon: christia...@kuleuven.be, steven....@ees.kuleuven.be
Feel free to contact us for specific questions prior to submitting your application but note that response might be slow during July due to travel.

More information on the Department of Earth & Environmental Sciences, Civil Engineering and KU Leuven can be found on http://ees.kuleuven.be/, https://bwk.kuleuven.be/hydr.