Senior Spatial Scientist

Reference number: 336047
Location: Northern Research Station, Roslin EH25 9SY or Alice Holt Research Station, Farnham GU10 4LH or Coldharbour Lane, Bristol BS16 1EJ with blended working

About the job

Job summary

Want to work at the cutting edge of environmental science? Passionate about making a difference and playing your part in tackling the climate and nature crisis? Forest Research (FR) is all about giving top quality evidence and advice to policymakers and practitioners to make a positive impact on the ground. Internationally recognised, we need people who have the skills and passion to work on excellent science and provide practical solutions for nature.

We’re small enough that your voice is heard, yet large enough, as part of the Forestry Commission, that we have everything on hand to get the job done, as well as a variety of career pathways. Our staff are dedicated to their work and sharing it with others to bring positive change for our planet. And you will find us a flexible and inclusive employer, so you can have a work life balance that is tailor-made to your circumstances. So, whether it’s climate or carbon, pests or pathogens, behaviour or biodiversity that interests you, you can be assured of a warm welcome to the team.

We are looking for someone to cover a period of Maternity Leave.

The post-holder would be responsible for managing FR’s input into collaborative projects involving the co-development and application of spatial methods, models, and tools to support policymakers and practitioners in taking action to protect and improve the biodiversity, resilience, and ecosystem services of wooded landscapes. Work includes leading a collaborative project focussing on the impact of development on ancient woodlands funded by Defra’s Nature for Climate Fund (AWDev (NCF)); inputting into the technical development of a web-based spatial tool led by the University of Reading to map the risk of woodland to deer damage (iDeer); overseeing ongoing application of a biodiversity index for the public forest estate (FOBI).

The post-holder will be a member of the Land Use and Ecosystem Services team (LUES) who conduct research to increase our understanding of the influence of land use on the biodiversity, resilience, and ecosystem services (ES) provided by woodland landscapes. This multidisciplinary research is used to help policymakers, forest managers and planners understand and assess how the specific placement and management of woodlands affects biodiversity, resilience, and the delivery of ES at various scales. LUES has very strong national and international links, and our group provides expert advice and publishes widely in peer-review, applied and trade journals.

Job description

Key Work Areas:

• Work with colleagues and project partners to co-develop and apply spatial indicators, analysis methods and decision support tools relating to the biodiversity, resilience, and ecosystem services of wooded landscapes
• Lead and manage defined projects and areas of work in collaboration with project partners and funders, such as universities, government bodies and conservation charities
• Manage work programmes across multiple projects including carrying out budget holder responsibilities, task prioritisation and delegation, and progress reporting and monitoring
• Present and co-develop ideas, plans and initial findings with collaborators, funders, and other experts
• Use R programming to carry out spatial and other data analysis independently and as part of a team
• Manage, share, and archive code and data responsibly for quality assurance purposes and to facilitate collaboration
• Co-develop new decision support and data visualisation tools, and manage existing ones, in collaboration with tool users and with support from colleagues
• Disseminate findings and publicise research activity by summarising and presenting work via scientific publications, conferences, workshops, and seminars, as opportunities arise
• Maintain and build connections with customers and collaborators within and outside of the UK
• Manage three members of LUES staff. Support reportees, project team members, colleagues and students in their work, career, and mental health

Person specification

Essential Criteria:

• Postgraduate qualification (PhD) in an appropriate area of study
• Significant relevant professional experience, ideally involving forest ecology and spatial modelling in a research environment
• Experience managing and leading multi-partner and multi-year collaborative projects
• Experience building project proposals and creating and managing project budgets
• Experience of building and maintaining collaborations with a range of stakeholders and partners
• Experience of people management
• Proficient R user and coder, including use of R markdown
• Excellent organisational, data handling and record keeping skills
• Experience in handling, analysing, and modelling quantitative and spatial data
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills (in English), including as lead author of scientific publications
• Evidence of working independently and in teams

Desirable Criteria:

• An understanding of forest ecology and British woodland management and policy; in particular, an understanding of mammal ecology, environmental planning policy and/or herbivore management would be beneficial
• Use of R Shiny to create interactive online data visualisation/exploration tools
• An understanding of biodiversity indicators
• Competent user of GIS systems for spatial analysis using both vector and raster data
• Experience of field work design; in particular, any experience in eco-acoustic study design would be beneficial

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Communicating and Influencing
• Making Effective Decisions

Closing date: 4th February 2024.