Crop modeler and Climate Change Specialist

Reports to: Integrated Water and Land Management Program Director & ICARDA Regional coordinator in Tashkent

Location: Tashkent - Uzbekistan. Closing date: 10 November 2013

Main purpose of the position

ICARDA seeks to recruit a highly experienced and motivated biophysical crop modeler to work under the direct supervision of ICARDA’s Soil Fertility Specialist of the Integrated Water and Land Management Program (IWLMP). The successful applicant will provide technical and scientific support to the various projects relating to climate change impacts on the major crops and cropping systems in the dry areas where ICARDA works.

About ICARDA

The International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) is an international autonomous, non-profit, research organization temporarily based in Beirut, Lebanon supported by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). ICARDA is committed to the improvement of livelihoods of the resource-poor in dry areas by enhancing food security and alleviating poverty through agricultural research, and the equitable use of natural resources. For more details: www.icarda.org

Main responsibilities

• Project coordination and execution of the IWLMP-related modeling components of ICARDA’s activities within CGIAR Research Program for Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CRP-7)

• Project coordination and execution of the IWLMP-related modeling components of ICARDA’s activities within the Central Asia Countries Initiative for Land Management (CACILM) Project

• Calibrating and using crop models in collaboration with climate and economic modelers to assess impact of climate scenarios on crop production and food security for regions including North Africa and Central Asia

• Applying crop models to evaluate adaptations and technologies to minimize impacts and take advantage of climate change scenarios

• Provide major input and collaborate with other ICARDA and NARES researchers on the project teams to prepare scientific and technical reports and other media and web-based communications

• to carry out an in-depth evaluation of the biophysical modeling-results that were generated in the ADB-funded project on “Adaptation to Climate Change in Central Asia and People's Republic of China”, sub-component 3, “Assessing the vulnerability of selected agro-ecosystems in Central Asia to threats resulting from climate change – production and productivity of wheat”, and to develop and simulate further climate change scenarios as required

• In collaboration with ICARDA’s GIS unit and related NARES institutes to produce down-scaled weather data from Global Circulation Models specific to the regions/agro-ecozones of the projects

• to develop daily time-step weather data sets for historic data and selected (IPCC) climate change scenarios for use with the biophysical models

• Contribute to the design of field trials, particularly regarding data requirements for modeling purposes, that address the research questions of IWLMP’s projects

• Coordinating the collection, processing and management of data, including setting up and managing databases for climate and crop data

Education, qualifications and experience

• PhD degree in field related to soil, water, plant, atmosphere interactions with a background in biophysical modeling

• A minimum of 5 years post-degree experience in soil-water-plant modeling research, preferably in relation to future climate change and partly of an international nature

• Outstanding ability to work with colleagues in a team;

• Fluency in written and spoken English and Russian;

• Outstanding and efficient communication skills, including by electronic means;

• Demonstrated ability to work effectively with limited supervision, to establish priorities and an ability to make sound decisions;

• Experience working in medium and large scale projects

• Proven knowledge and affinity with biophysical crop models such as CropSyst (highly desirable), DSSAT or APSIM, and their application to cropping systems in the dry regions;

• Proven skills in working with and managing large datasets;

• Knowledge and experience in using GIS applications;

• Knowledge and experience in producing downscaled climate data;

• Proven knowledge of the interactive effects of climatic and soil-water processes on plant production)

Terms of appointment, salary and benefits

The initial contract will be for 3 years, of which the first year will be probationary period. Subsequent employment is decided based on the merit and productivity of the staff member, and continued need for the position. For more details on benefits: Terms of Appointment PDF Level 

How to apply

Please apply online at www.icarda.org/iea/ by 10 November 2013 

We are an equal opportunity employer and encourage applications from women.

Applications will be acknowledged, but only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.