Postdoc - Climate Risk Assessment in Agriculture and Forestry

Postdoc - Climate Risk Assessment in Agriculture and Forestry

SLU - Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences

Uppsala, Sweden

Join the Department of Forest Mycology and Plant Pathology at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) for a two-year postdoctoral position focused on climate adaptation in agriculture and forestry. We are seeking a motivated and dedicated person to contribute to European research projects addressing the resilience of crop and forest systems. The position offers the opportunity to work across scales and methods, integrating quantitative risk modelling with empirical field data and applied demonstrations to support climate-resilient decision-making in boreal forest landscapes.

About the job

The successful candidate will join the Precilience project, an interdisciplinary initiative that assesses climate risks and supports resilient adaptation strategies in the Nordic–Baltic Boreal region. The position is part of the Risks and Opportunities team, which develops integrated assessments of climate-related risks and vulnerabilities through a combination of quantitative analysis and stakeholder engagement. The postdoc will also be included in the Forestry Demonstration team, which investigates climate impacts on boreal forests and evaluates adaptive and transformative management approaches. Research will assess vulnerability and resilience across forest types, considering stand structure, species composition, management legacy, and landscape context. Demonstration activities include testing regeneration and diversification strategies, as well as evaluating disease susceptibility and damage in key boreal species such as Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) and Norway spruce (Picea abies).

Core duties include the development of climate risk indicators for crops and forests, integrating systematic literature reviews, climate projections, and sensitivity indicators related to species composition, management history, and site conditions. A key component of the position involves empirical demonstrations and data collection in Sweden and Estonia. The postdoc will participate in field-based studies on climate-sensitive forest sites, contributing to the collection and analysis of ecological, management, and regeneration data. These empirical activities will be used to ground-truth model outputs, refine risk indicators, and assess the effectiveness of adaptive forest management strategies.

Your background

We are looking for a person with a PhD in environmental science, forestry, ecology, geoscience, agricultural science, biology, or a related field, with the ability to work effectively in an interdisciplinary and international research environment, including collaboration with academic and non-academic partners. Excellent written and spoken English skills, sufficient for scientific writing, reporting, and participation in international project activities, are required.

Other relevant skills include experience of conducting systematic or structured literature reviews, including synthesis of scientific evidence across disciplines, and documented experience of quantitative environmental data analysis, including climate data, ecological or forest inventory data, and/or spatial data sets, and skills in statistical analysis and data processing using tools such as R or similar. Knowledge of agricultural or forestry practices is also an advantage.

A position as a postdoctor is intended for a researcher early in their career, we are therefore primarily looking for candidates who completed their doctoral degree no more than three years ago.

The assessment will also take into account personal qualities.