Post Number: /
Job Description
Faculty / Centre for Global Health Population, Poverty and Policy (GHP3)
Post Title: / Postdoctoral Research Fellow (Social Scientist): Ecosystem services for food security and the nutritional health at the forest-agricultural interface
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Posts Responsible to (and Level): / Director, Centre for Global Health, Level 7
Posts Responsible for (and Level): / none
Job Purpose:
To undertake research on the ASSETS (“Attaining Sustainable Services from Ecosystem
through Tradeoff Scenarios”) project. ASSETS has the overarching objective of explicitly
quantifying the linkages between the natural ecosystem services that affect and are affected by
food security and nutritional health for the rural poor at the forest-agricultural interface.
Candidates for post to read additional separate
Key Accountabilities/Primary Responsibilities (6-10 bullet points maximum)
- To design, plan, and implement field studiesincluding household surveys, anthropometric measurements, and participatory research (including focus groups, community mapping) in collaboration with research partners in Colombia and Malawi.
- To oversee the design of questionnaires, site selection,research clearance, and to trainresearchers in Colombia and Malawi in survey implementation and ethics of social science research.
- To carry out quantitative analyses of large datasets from surveys and other sources
- To engage with local and international stakeholders including policy makers, government officers, local researchers, and development funders.
- To disseminate research findings through publication in peer-reviewed journal articles, conference presentations, policy briefs and other media.
- To contribute to the wider social science research community through capacity building training events and mentoring PhD and MSc students.
100%
Internal & External Relationships: (nature & purpose of relationships)
- Internal: the postholder will work under the direction of Prof Nyovani Madise andDr Kate Schreckenberg and he/she will also work with other investigators on the project includingDr Felix Eigenbrod, Dr Malcolm Hudson, Professor Barrie Margetts, and Professor Guy Poppy (who will provide overall direction for the whole project on ecosystems services at the forest-agricultural interface). The postholder will work closely with other postdoctoral fellows on the project. As a member of GHP3 the postholder will also liaise closely with other researchers within the Centre.
- External: the postholder will be expected to work closely also with Professor Terence Dawson (Dundee) and to collaborate with other members of the ASSETS consortium including CIAT (Colombia), ChancellorCollege and WorldFish (Malawi), and the Basque Centre for Climate Change Research (Spain) Conservation International (USA).
- The postholder will work closely with the ESPA directorate and other ESPA research consortia.
Special Requirements:
The role requires international travel to rural areas in Malawi and Colombia. It is anticipated that the postholder may be involved in fieldwork which may often take place outside of usual office hours to fit with interviewees’ own commitments. The post may also involve occasional additional overseas travel for the purposes of disseminating research and networking.
Person Specification
Criteria / Essential / Desirable / How to be assessed
Qualifications, Knowledge and Experience:
PhD qualification in a quantitative social science discipline.
Experience of conducting household surveys, ethics clearance, questionnaire design, listing and sampling and training of fieldworkers
Experience of handling, managing and statistical analysis of large datasets using appropriate software (e.g.STATA, S-PLUS, SPSS etc)
Experience of conducting participatory research, including data analysis and community feedback
Prior experience of mixed methods (combining qualitative and quantitative) approaches to research
Prior research interests/experience in relation to environment, nutrition, health in low or middle income countries
Publication in peer reviewed journals / X
X
X
X / X
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X / Application
Application & Interview
CV & Interview
CV & Interview
CV & Interview
CV & Interview
CV
Planning and Organising:
Strong ability to plan own programme of work and to make short-term and long-term project plans
Ability to organise teams (e.g. field assistants)
Ability to work to deadlines / X
X
X / CV & Interview
CV & interview
CV & Interview
Problem Solving and Initiative:
Ability to conceptualizeand operationalize research ideas into testable hypotheses and study designs
Ability to assess and manage risks and to identify solutions under own initiative. / X
X / CV interview
Interview & references
Management and Teamwork:
Ability to work independently and as part of a team.
Ability to motivate other members of the team and to mentor others / X / X / CV & Interview
CV & Interview
Communicating and Influencing:
Excellent verbal and written communication skills in English language
Ability to communicate effectively with other members of the research consortium, external stakeholders, and the University community
Proven skills in writing for scientific publication
Experience in preparing reports and policy briefs for policymakers and other users of research
Some knowledge of Spanish language / X
X
X / X
X / CV & Interview
CV & Interview
CV & Interview
CV & Interview
CV & interview
Other Skills and Behaviours:
Word processing, internet and bibliographic search skills and bibliographic software (e.g. Endnote). / X / CV
Job Hazard Analysis Form - Appendix to Job and Person Specification
Please tick one of the following statements:
This post is an office-based job with routine office hazards e.g. use of VDU (if ticked, no further information needs to be supplied)This post has some hazards other than routine office e.g. more than use of VDU / X
Please tick all those that apply, and put N/A if not applicable
Environmental Exposures / O* / F / COutside work / x
Extremes of temperature (eg fridge/ furnace)
Potential for exposure to body fluids
Noise (greater than 80 dba - 8 hrs twa)
Exposure to hazardous substances (eg solvents, liquids, dust, fumes, biohazards). Specify ………………………………………………………….
Frequent hand washing
Ionising radiation.
Equipment/Tools/Machines used
Food Handling
Driving university vehicles(e.g. car/van/LGV/PCV)
Use of latex gloves (note: prohibited unless specific clinical necessity)
Vibrating tools ( e.g. strimmers, hammer drill, lawnmowers)
Physical Abilities
Load manual handling.
Repetitive Crouching/Kneeling/Stooping
Repetitive Pulling/Pushing
Repetitive Lifting
Standing for prolonged periods
Repetitive Climbing i.e. steps, stools, ladders
Fine motor grips (e.g. pipetting)
Gross motor grips
Repetitive reaching below shoulder height
Repetitive reaching at shoulder height
Repetitive reaching above shoulder height
Psychosocial Issues
Face to face contact with public / X
Lone working / X
Shift work/night work/on call duties / X
O – Occasionally (up to 1/3 of time); F – Frequently (up to 2/3 of time); C – Constantly (more than 2/3 of time) ## denotes to HR the need for a full PEHQ to be sent to all applicants for this position.
FOR SCHOOL/SERVICE USE ONLY / ResourceLink Post NumberWhich post does this job report to / Professor Nyovani Madise
Is this post a Line Manager? / Yes / No / x
If yes, which posts directly report into it? / ResourceLink Post Number
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Centre for Global Health, Population, Poverty, and Policy
Postdoctoral Research Fellow (Social Sciences): Ecosystem services for food security and the nutritional health at the forest-agricultural interface
FURTHER PARTICULARS
Research Programme: “Attaining Sustainable Services from Ecosystem through
Tradeoff Scenarios” (ASSETS)
This research is part of the Ecosystem Services for Poverty Alleviation (ESPA) programme ( which is funded by DFID, NERC and ESRC. The research consortium consists of a highly interdisciplinary team led by the University of Southampton in collaboration with researchers from CIAT (Colombia), Chancellor College and WorldFish (Malawi), Basque Centre for Climate Change Research (Spain), Conservation International (USA) and the University of Dundee. The overall aim of the research programme is to explicitly quantify the linkages between the natural ecosystem services that affect – and are affected by – food security and nutritional health for the rural poor at the forest-agricultural interface. The research will be undertaken mainly in two countries: Colombia and Malawi but there may be possibility of expansion to other countries.
The postholder will be based at Southampton and he/she will work closely with other postdoctoral researchers in the consortium including those based at Southampton and at partner organisations. The postholder will be required to travel within the UK and internationally.
1Project summary
Our consortium will undertake ground-breaking interdisciplinary research on ecosystem services (ES) for poverty alleviation at the forest-agricultural interface. We will generate knowledge and evidence from a range of sources and in various formats to inform policy and behaviour which will make a difference to the lives of 2 million poor people living in our case-study regions (Colombia and Malawi), and potentially up to 550 million people living in similar environments around the world. The overarching goal of this four-year project is to explicitly quantify the linkages between the natural ecosystem services that affect – and are affected by – food security and nutritional health for the rural poor at the forest-agricultural interface. We will use the ARIES modelling framework ( to address a fundamental research question related to ES mapping: What is the causal chain of provision that leads from ecosystems to impact on human well-being? This underpins all the research questions in our project as well as being of wider significance to ESPA science.
The research programme focuses on six questions within three themes.
Theme 1: Drivers, pressures, and linkages between food security, nutritional health and ES.
- What are the current levels of direct and indirect contributions of ES to local food security and nutritional health outcomes for the rural poor?
- What are the drivers and pressures that have the greatest effect on the ES that are most important for food security and health outcomes?
Theme 2: Crises and tipping points: Past, present and future interactions between food insecurity and ES at the forest-agricultural interface
- To what extent are coping strategies to food insecurity dependent on ES over multiple spatial and temporal scales?
- How are the levels of direct and indirect contributions of ES to local food security and nutritional health outcomes for the rural poor likely to change under future land use and climate change scenarios?
Theme 3: The science-policy interface: How can we manage ES to reduce food insecurity and increase nutritional health?
- How can the risks associated with future environmental change be managed to minimise effects on human beings and ecosystems?
- How can we consolidate different levels of policy decision making (at the local, regional, national and global scales) to better manage ES conflicts, tradeoffs and synergies to sustain food security and health?
The consortium expects to produce a diverse set of project deliverables including those addressing:
Research excellence – for example a series of high impact disciplinary and multidisciplinary research papers, including publishing in open access journals, and additional policy briefs will be generated for non-academic audiences.
New data/Methods and Techniques - for example a conceptual framework will be developed for our project which has relevance for other ESPA-type projects. We will work with the ESPA community on developing an overarching framework.
Development impact - for example to provide world class research evidence which can influence and inform policy by working with existing networks, partnerships and the ESPA directorate to facilitate impact of our research on poverty.
Capacity building – for exampletraining workshops in each country with policy analysts, academics, and university students and participatory modelling workshops conducted in each region involving local experts from each community in order to develop models of ES including identifying pressures, drivers, tipping points, etc.
2More information for applicants
A major benefit for the successful applicant for this position will be that they will join ASSETS which is one of two ESPA research consortia led by the University of Southampton. In total, the University of Southampton has received project funding in excess of £7 million funded under the ESPA programme – more than any other institution in the UK. These projects include a project led by a co-investigator on the ASSETS consortium grant – Dr Kate Schreckenberg – “Safeguarding local equity as global values of ecosystem services rise”.
The social science aspects of this project will be led by Professor Nyovani Madise (Centre for Global Health, Population, Poverty, and Policy (GHP3)) together with Dr Kate Schreckenberg (Engineering and Environment). GHP3, which is based in the Faculty of Social and Human Sciences at the University of Southampton, investigates the interrelationships between health, population, and poverty at both societal and individual levels. It has 12 key researchers drawn from Social Statistics, Economics, Geography, and Social Policy; 12 international associates; and more than 10 PhD researchers affiliated to it. A distinctive feature of GHP3’s research is the combination of strong statistical analysis combined with rigorous policy analysis. Other major long-term research programmes in GHP3 include Replication of Rural Decentralised off-grid Electricity Generation through Technology and Business Innovation in rural Kenya, Evidence for Action Programme to Save Mothers and Newborns in Africa, and child nutrition.
The University is committed to its Equal Opportunities Policy and it also has in place a Flexible Working Policy. Please contact Nyovani Madise ()or Kate Schreckenberg () if you wish to discuss this matter or other matters informally.
N.J.Madise
Telephone +44 2380 592534
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