Postdoctoral position: Advancing Climate Resilience in Agriculture

The University of Florida seeks a Postdoctoral researcher for a two-year position focused on enhancing agricultural resilience against climate change through integrated crop-livestock systems. Responsibilities include leading meta-analyses, overseeing data integration, and collaborating internationally. Candidates should have a PhD and experience in geospatial analytics. The role requires travel for fieldwork in Florida and Brazil, and strong communication skills are essential.
The University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) is seeking a Postdoctoral researcher for a fully funded two-year position to join a project focused on developing innovative tools and methodologies to enhance agricultural resilience against climate variability. This project investigates the role of integrated crop-livestock systems (ICLS) in improving soil health, mitigating the impacts of climate change, and advancing agricultural resilience through enhanced index-based insurance (IBI) models. The project includes pilot activities in both Florida (USA) and Goiás (Brazil), focusing on soil health indicators and climate-smart agriculture practices. This project is funded by the Global Food Systems Initiative and will be implemented in collaboration with Embrapa (Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation), Brazil.

Position Description
• Lead a comprehensive meta-analysis of available soil, crop, management practices, and Earth observation data from Florida and Brazil.
• Oversee data integration and interpretation from trials across diverse climatic regions, aiming to link soil health indices and climatic data with agricultural resilience.
• Collaborate with an international team of researchers to validate and test methodologies using remote sensing data, and historical datasets for estimation of soil properties.
• Contribute to developing enhanced IBI models by incorporating weather, soil data and vegetation indices to improve risk assessment
• Present research findings at international conferences and contribute to high-impact publications.

Required Qualifications
• A PhD in Agronomy, Biosystems Engineering, Geo-Information or a related field.
• Experience conducting geospatial analytics (e.g., R, Python and/or GIS softwares) or physical process modelling (e.g., Roth-C) can be considered as an important asset.
• Willingness to travel domestically and internationally for fieldwork and presentations.
• Strong written and oral communication skills for interdisciplinary collaboration and publication.

Application Process Information

Interested candidates are required to contact Dr. Nikos Tziolas (ntziolas@ufl.edu) and provide a cover letter with their research interests and experiences (1 page), curriculum vitae as well as contact information for two references (email title “Postdoc Application: Agricultural Resilience”). The review of applications starts immediately and will continue until the position is filled. The shortlisted candidates will be interviewed.

Additional Information

This position is funded for 24 months, starting March 1, 2025. Opportunities for fieldwork and collaboration in both Florida and Brazil are integral to the role, alongside access to advanced computational resources. The researcher will also work closely with Dr. Clyde Fraisse, Dr. Jose Dubeux, and Dr. Sarah Strauss, engaging in interdisciplinary activities that bridge soil science, agriculture, and environmental research.