Terrestrial ecosystems are presently removing about 25% of the carbon dioxide emitted by human activities, but the exact mechanisms and the locations of carbon uptake are still under debate. Models of carbon exchanges in terrestrial ecosystems have evolved over the last several decades to become more complex but also less constrained, as rapidly expanding datasets and new theories have not been systematically used in improving the models.
Lemontree is a new project supported by the Schmidt Foundation to re-engineer terrestrial ecosystem models by building on strong theoretical foundations and incorporating diverse datasets. The next-generation models being created should better represent carbon fluxes in the past and in the future.
The specific aim of this PhD project is to simulate and evaluate carbon exchanges in comparison to atmospheric CO2 and isotopic data. Isotopes of carbon can provide insights to ecosystem processes and residence times, but isotopes are only rarely stimulated by models. For example, radiocarbon produced by nuclear bomb tests in the 1950s and 1960s can be used to study the rate at which carbon is taken up into terrestrial biomass and how quickly it is released back to the atmosphere as CO2.
You will work collaboratively with the larger Lemontree team to evaluate and improve the new models being developed using comparisons to atmospheric CO2 and isotopic data. You will help to develop and write model code for the isotopic simulations and for ecosystem processes. You will analyse model output in comparison to various observations. You will interpret your results to make conclusions about CO2 uptake in terrestrial ecosystems and how it is likely to evolve in future scenarios.
You can join the Doctoral Training Programme run by the Grantham Institute for Climate Change and the Environment at Imperial, if you wish https://www.imperial.ac.uk/grantham/education/science-and-solutions-for-a-changing-planet-dtp/
Candidates should have a masters with a 2:1 or 1st in maths, physics, environmental science, computing, or other relevant subject. Computing experience, preferably with python, is required.
Available to start from April 2022
To apply, please send a CV, cover letter and names and contact details of two referees to H. Graven.
https://www.imperial.ac.uk/news/217793/new-lemontree-project-aims-improve-earth/
https://www.imperial.ac.uk/people/h.graven
https://research.reading.ac.uk/lemontree/
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