PhD Studentships (2) Centre for Hydrology, Micrometeorology and Climate Change Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering

PhD Studentship  Carbon Balance of a Blanket Peat Catchment

Status: 3 years
Closing Date: Tuesday, 19th December
Stipend: €18,000 per annum, tax exempt.
The project is due to start in January 2007.

Position available:

A three year Environmental Protection Agency funded (ERTDI) PhD Studentship position is available in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University College Cork. The successful applicant will determine the carbon balance of a blanket peatland. This will be achieved by determining CO₂ exchange using eddy covariance, CH₄ emissions using static chambers and dissolved organic carbon input in rainfall and loss in stream water. A model will be developed to assess the effect of changing climate on the carbon balance.

The successful candidate will:

• Possess an undergraduate (first or upper second class) or Masters degree in Environmental Science, Ecology, Meteorology, Engineering, Applied Physics or a related discipline.
• Have numerical analysis skills in FORTRAN, Matlab, IDL, C/++ or a similar environment.
• Have excellent written and verbal communication skills.

This studentship will involve frequent travel to remote field sites for which a full clean driving license or access to independent means of transport is essential.

Further information on the research activities of the Centre is available at http://www.hydromet.org/. For informal discussion contact: Prof. Ger Kiely (g.kiely@ucc.ie) or Dr. Ken Byrne (k.byrne@ucc.ie)

Candidates should submit a letter outlining their suitability for the position and their curriculum vitae, to include the names, addresses and emails of three referees, to:

Prof. Ger Kiely
Centre for Hydrology, Micrometeorology and Climate Change
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
University College Cork
Cork

Email: g.kiely@ucc.ie

PhD Studentship - Nitrous oxide flux evaluation by closed chambers and empirical models

Status: 3 years
Closing Date: Tuesday, 19th December
Stipend: €18,000 per annum, tax exempt
The project is due to start in January 2007.

Nitrous oxide (N₂O) is a potent greenhouse gas emitted from soils as a result of microbial action on nitrogen compounds. The successful applicant will use the closed chamber technique to measure nitrous oxide fluxes from several agricultural sites in southwestern Ireland. Air samples collected from the chambers will be analysed in the laboratory by gas chromatography. The student will examine temporal and spatial variability of fluxes and undertake modelling of the flux data using empirical or semi-empirical models in order to investigate the relationship of N₂O fluxes with underlying soil and environmental drivers. This position is funded under the 2006 Research Stimulus Fund Programme of the Department of Agriculture.

The successful candidate will:

• Possess an undergraduate (first or upper second class) or Masters degree in Environmental Science, Ecology, Meteorology, Engineering, Applied Physics, Biochemistry or a related discipline.
• Have numerical analysis skills in FORTRAN, Matlab, IDL, C/++ or a similar environment.
• Have excellent written and verbal communication skills.

The studentship will involve frequent travel to remote field sites for which a full clean driving license or access to independent means of transport is essential.

Further information on the research activities of the Centre and on the post is available at http://www.hydromet.org/. For informal discussion contact: Dr. Paul Leahy (paul.leahy@ucc.ie) or Prof. Ger Kiely (g.kiely@ucc.ie).

Candidates should submit a letter outlining their suitability for the position and their curriculum vitae, to include the names, addresses and emails of three referees, to:

Dr. Paul Leahy
Centre for Hydrology, Micrometeorology and Climate Change
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
University College Cork
Cork
Email: paul.leahy@ucc.ie