Applications are invited for a postdoctoral fellowship with SANBI’s Division: Adaptation Policy and Resourcing and the African Climate & Development Institute (ACDI) at the University of Cape Town to support research on the resilience, to climate change, of ecosystems services flowing from Ecosystem based Adaptation (EbA) interventions in South Africa.

The postdoctoral fellowship is under the auspices of the project titled ‘Unlocking Climate Finance for Climate Change Adaptation, which has been awarded to SANBI by the Government of Flanders. The purpose of this project is to develop and/or enhance SANBI’s climate change and biodiversity adaptation institutional capacity in its role as a National Implementing Entity for the Adaptation Fund (AF) and Green Climate Fund (GCF) in South Africa. The postdoctoral fellowship will fall within Result Area 2 of this project which is: Policy-Science Interface for climate change adaptation strengthened to facilitate improved integration of climate science into SANBI’s GCF programme of work. Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) as defined by the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (UNCBD) is the use of biodiversity and ecosystem services as part of an overall adaptation strategy to help people to adapt to the adverse effects of climate change.

Requirements: The postdoctoral fellowship is open to anyone who has completed a PhD in the last five years, or who has submitted their PhD and will be awarded their PhD by mid 2023. Candidates must have a strong ecological background, preferably including work in African biomes. Candidates must be independent and proactive with a peer-reviewed publication track record appropriate to  the applicants career stage. Applicants must be comfortable working with climate change projections. Proficiency in R, Python, CDO and/or Google Earth Engine would be a distinct advantage. Applicants must demonstrate an ability to undertake research, including field research in remote areas, synthesise literature, and use scientific evidence to formulate defendable recommendations. The individual must be comfortable and confident in interacting with key stakeholders including EbA practitioners, government, academia and civil society in South Africa.

Research Areas: In the overall context of climate change impacts, the main avenues of research are fourfold: (1) assess existing South African research and project experience on the impacts of EbA interventions on the resilience of the flow of ecosystem services; (2) using the review, identify  knowledge gaps relating to EbA impacts on the resilience of ecosystem service flows to climate changes; (3) develop research protocols to research key gaps identified; (4) use biome level systems dynamic model /causal loop diagrams to predict impacts of EbA interventions on key ecosystem services under scenarios of climate change.

Bursary value: A fellowship of R350,000 per year and is available until 30 November 2024. Some running expenses will also be made available each year.

Application procedure: Each application is to be accompanied by a standard bursary application cover sheet (attached to this advert). Applications are to include a full CV; certified copies of ID and academic records; two letters of reference (one must be from an academic supervisor); examples of published work and a short motivation letter describing the applicant’s suitability for the position in terms of skills and experience.

Send all documents to students@sanbi.org.za with “SANBI-UCT Climate change and ecosystem adaptation Postdoctoral Fellowship” in the subject line.

Contact details

Academic queries can be directed to Dr Graham von Maltitz (g.vonmaltitz@sanbi.org.za) and Dr Petra Holden petra.holden@uct.ac.za. Questions about the application process should be sent to Ms René du Toit (r.dutoit@sanbi.org.za).

SANBI reserves the right not to fill this fellowship. If no response has been received by end May 2023, candidates may assume that their applications were unsuccessful.

Closes:  Friday, 12 May 2023 (the successful candidate will be notified by the end of May 2023)
Location: Cape Town