Post Doctoral Research Fellow Reclaiming Exmoor

Job Description

The School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences invites you to apply for the post of Research Fellow at the University of Plymouth. SoGEES employs staff across a wide range of research areas, and enjoys excellent support from well-resourced laboratory and geospatial analysis facilities. As well as breadth and depth within SoGEES, we have strong academic links across the institution with, for example, the University’s cross-disciplinary Sustainable Earth Institute. This is an exciting chance to be part of a progressive and cutting-edge University in a beautiful location, working within a collaborative, timely project that can make a difference.We are seeking to appoint a postdoctoral Research Fellow to conduct collaborative research on the Leverhulme Trust research project “A landscape transformed: the reclamation of Exmoor Forest”. This interdisciplinary project will address the sale and reclamation of the Royal Forest of Exmoor in the nineteenth century. The sale of the 20,000-acre Royal Forest of Exmoor in 1818 to John Knight represents the single largest programme of landscape transformation in southern England at this time. The Knights undertook sustained efforts to reclaim the landscape, aiming to create a highly productive agrarian estate. This project will cast light on the influences on Knight, who also owned land across Britain and on the continent, consider the ecological impacts and consequences of the reclamation process, and place the transformation in its social and environmental context. The project is collaborative with partners in the Department of History at the University of Exeter. You will work in collaboration with Professor Ralph Fyfe at the University, as well as project partners at the University of Exeter. You will develop new high-resolution palaeoecological records based on pollen and non-pollen palynomorphs spanning the last 500 years from multiple locations across Exmoor. These records will inform the extent to which the existing patterns of land use and vegetation influenced the plan for Exmoor, and identify the ecological impacts and legacies of successive reclamation campaigns. You will contribute to tying together the palaeoecological evidence with field evidence for landscape change and detailed historical archival research undertaken at the University of Exeter.It is essential that you have a PhD (or are close to completing a PhD) in a field relevant to palaeocology/environmental archaeology, and that you are willing to undertake field work on Exmoor and extended laboratory analysis of palaeoecological samples. Independent travel will form an important part of the project so it is desirable, but not essential that you hold a driving licence. Experience of generating new pollen and non-pollen palynomorph datasets is essential. Experience of applying multivariate statistical methods to palaeoecological datasets would also be beneficial. You should have a positive attitude towards interdisciplinary research, working within a collaborative team, and working closely with stakeholders. It is also essential that you feel comfortable in undertaking the day-to-day management of a research projects. Please demonstrate how you meet the essential criteria outlined in the knowledge, qualifications, training and experience elements of the job description in your supporting statement.This is full-time position working 37 hours per week on a fixed-term basis for 2 years due to the nature of the funding.For an informal discussion or to find out more about the role, please contact Professor Ralph Fyfe by email: . Closing date: 12 midnight, Sunday 14 June 2020The University of Plymouth is committed to equality of opportunity, promoting a diverse and inclusive culture, demonstrated through our commitment to the gender equality Athena SWAN Charter and as a Stonewall diversity champion. All applications will be judged solely on merit, however, we particularly welcome applications from groups currently under-represented in the workforce, for example black and minority ethnic groups. University of Plymouth holds a TEF (Teaching Excellence and Student Outcomes Framework) Silver by the Office for Students.