GCZSC - Professor in Greenhouse Gases

Area of specialization :

Critical Zone is the heterogeneous, near-surface environment in which complex interactions involving rock, soil, water, air, and living organisms regulate the natural habitat and determine availability of life-sustaining resources . Its limits are defined as ranging from the top of the canopy down to the bottom of the aquifer. The successful applicant to this position will join the Global Critical Zone Science Chair to develop and conduct a research program in greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions measurement and behavior in the critical zone, with a particular focus on developing robust and implementable monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV) systems to allow us to track the impact of agricultural practices on organic carbon sequestration in the soils and emissions of H

O, N

O, CO

, and CH

from the soils.

The applicant must have a good understanding of atmospheric chemistry and physics to understand GHG reactions and flows to be able to quantify them. The applicant will also need to implement and manage high-tower sites to model GHG flows in native forests and agricultural fields. The applicant must have a good understanding about sensors, satellites, drones, and new technologies that will allow us to measure GHG emissions in a more reliable and affordable way. There is a particular interest to link this work with organic C sequestration in the soils, microbial communities variability, C use efficiency, and other aspects related to soil health and the impact of agricultural practices (including 4Rs) into controlling C, N, and P biogeochemical cycling. The successful candidate should develop a wide range of expertise, mainly in GHG emissions quantification and modeling, and to support bridging this knowledge into policies and field management practices that will allow us to build more sustainable agricultural systems and to improve ecosystem services.

Job description :

The Global Critical Zone Science Chair at the Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P) invites applications for a full-time professor position in GHG emissions quantification and modeling (open rank). The successful applicant will conduct research aiming to understand the impact of different conservation agricultural practices, including 4Rs, on GHG emissions. The research should guide us on our task to design sustainable cropping systems that will lower GHG emissions and sequester organic carbon in the soils. Besides quantifying the impact of different practices, the research should help us combining the right practices in the different cropping systems around the world to ensure low GHG emissions and soil organic carbon sequestration, making agriculture a tool for climate action. This should pave the way to create reliable certifications, including carbon credits but also sustainability certifications that will generate value to the farmers.

Due to the influence of the Northern Hemisphere (cool and temperate climates) where plant biomass growth is limited by N, there is a consensus that N (C / N) has a strong control over C sequestration as soil organic matter worldwide. However, as P is the most limiting nutrient for plant biomass production particularly in the Tropical Belt of the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, there is growing evidence of its control over several biogeochemical cycles, particularly those related to the formation of soil organic matter and the release of CO

, N

O, and CH

mediated by the microorganisms. The research program should reflect the need of understand better the role of P (particularly P limitation) on GHG emissions and soil organic carbon. The applicant must have great modeling expertise to translate these findings into models that will allow us to improve carbon sequestration as soil organic matter and decrease GHG emissions in the P deficient and highly weathered soils of the tropics. This knowledge will support our efforts towards understanding and managing the critical zone to build sustainable cropping systems for sustainable societies. Figure 1 depicts a framework of the critical zone functioning and guiding questions to understand it. The successful applicant should develop his / her program with this in mind.

Other duties include advising students and postdocs, teaching graduate courses at UM6P, support the overall activities of the Chair, and have a close relationship / follow up with the Chair s scientific committee. The successful applicant will work in close collaboration with the different groups and departments of the university, including the Geology Department, College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, International Water Research Institute, African Genome Center, Chemical and Biological Sciences, and Material Science, among others.

Evidence of research and teaching excellence is expected. Strong English communication skills, both verbal and written, are required.

Key duties :

Successful candidates are expected to :

• Initiate, develop, and lead joint research projects and programs in environmental stoichiometry in collaboration with a multidisciplinary consortium in the field.
• Generate external research funds to support and maintain integrated research programs.
• Establish collaboration and partnerships with great international scientific institutes.
• Supervise graduate students, develop teaching materials, and attract high level-students.
• Publish in well ranked and high impact-factor journals.
• Teach and develop research regarding the principles of GHG measurements, behavior, and modeling; its connection with the biogeochemical cycling of C, N, and P, and fundamental biological and chemical processes controlling organic carbon sequestration in the soil.
• Translate the basic scientific knowledge generate from the above-mentioned disciplines into sound management practices on how to better manage our soils and agricultural systems.
• Stay up to date with all current environmental science and GHG research, and also IPCC developments.
• Organize datasets and modelling efforts and support the development of long-term trials.
• Willing to travel for some time to develop field work in the African continent and to visit other international institutions and partners.
• Support the fulfillment of the goals and mission of the Global Critical Zone Science Chair.

Criteria of the candidate :

About UM6P :

Located at the heart of the future Green City of Benguerir, Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P), a higher education institution with an international standard, is established to serve Morocco and the African continent. Its vision is honed around research and innovation at the service of education and development. This unique nascent university, with its state-of-the-art campus and infrastructure, has woven a sound academic and research network, and its recruitment process is seeking high quality academics and professionals in order to boost its quality-oriented research environment.

OCP group ( http : / / www.ocpgroup.ma / en / home ), a world leader in fertilizer production plays a great role as the founder and main supporter for the University. In parallel, a new portfolio of client is growing in an open spirit, in parallel with the development of an R&D cluster around the university.

UM6P is a very ambitious university, enjoying ample research funding, moderate teaching load, and excellent facilities.

In its research approach, the UM6P promotes transdisciplinary, entrepreneurship spirit and collaboration with external institutions, both international ones for developing up to date science and at continent level to address real African challenges.

All our programs run as start-ups and can be self-organized when they reach a critical mass. Thus, academic liberty is promoted as far as funding is developed by research teams.

The research programs are integrated from long-term research to short-term applications in linkage with incubation and start-up ecosystems.

UM6P offers highly competitive salaries at the international level. Our researchers get incentives through a participation to the intellectual property they develop.

About the Critical Zone Science Chair :

The Global Critical Zone Science Chair at the Mohamed VI Polytechnic University is sponsored by OCP and was created with the mandate of developing the science that will support the sustainable use of our soils to build healthier ecosystems, particularly in the African continent. Soils are the connector of our major societal challenges, namely : food security, water security, energy security, loss of biodiversity and climate change. Despite of its great potential the African continent is still a net importer of food and will see its population doubling in the next decades. Besides all the efforts, environmental degradation is still on the rise in Africa. For the occasion of the AU-EU Summit that happened in February 2022 a policy paper that should guide the R&I partnership between the two continents for the green transition in Africa was released, bringing soil security and the development of a sustainable agriculture to the core of it. Following this momentum, the Global Critical Zone Science Chair aims to support the green transition in Africa by bringing the science that will improve our understanding of the mechanisms controlling the formation of our soils and its interactions with other environmental cycles.

The Chair is part of the Institute for Advanced Studies within the university and it is a multidisciplinary project by nature. It will promote the understanding of soils as a complex system by bringing cutting-edge multidisciplinary research to understand the links and feedbacks between soils and food systems, global warming, greenhouse gases, water cycle, and biodiversity, without forgetting the economic and social aspects. It will promote research and development in the fields of soil health, C sequestration, food security, soil biodiversity, soil fertility and fertilizers, nutrient use efficiency, and biogeochemical cycling of elements in the soil-plant-human system, aiming to generate knowledge that will allow us to build healthier, more sustainable, and productive agricultural systems, improving the way humans interact with the environment.

Lastly, the Chair will also rely on the support of a great scientific committee comprised by well-known and forward-thinking scientists from various fields, which will help guiding the development of the Chair and its work.