Research Associate; Plant Physiology

Overview

Evapotranspiration (ET) represents a key flux in urban heat & water budgets, cooling cities and mitigating the risk of flooding. Better understanding the role of ET in the ‘urban metabolism’ is a key component in our efforts to deliver climate change resilient cities. This post will be part of an EPSRC-funded project focusing on the development of new measurement techniques aimed at the quantification of ET from urban Green Infrastructure (vegetation), including Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS).

The postholder will be responsible for contributing to the development and testing of thermal remote sensing approaches for dynamically modelling ET in a range of vegetated SuDS designs, from small-scale test beds to in situ SuDS infrastructure embedded within the city landscape. The post will be supervised by Dr. Holly Croft (School of Biosciences) and Prof. Virginia Stovin (School of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Civil Engineering) and will be in collaboration with another postdoctoral researcher in the School of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Civil Engineering.

As an integral part of the team, you will be encouraged and supported to develop your own research profile, contribute to the supervision of post graduate students, attend national and international conferences, and publish research findings in peer‑reviewed journals.

• Make an active contribution to the establishment of novel instrumented external test beds, and in developing suitable tools for the data analysis activities planned in the project.
• Lead experimental campaigns in the collection of remote sensing and plant physiology data from vegetation in test‑beds and in situ urban green infrastructure using thermal sensors and gas exchange systems.
• Develop and test modelling approaches for estimating evapotranspiration from vegetation in in test‑beds and in situ urban green infrastructure.
• Plan your own research schedule and workload within the project schedule to ensure that the overall project milestones and objectives are met.
• Identify and develop opportunities to collaborate with Project Partners.
• Disseminate research findings & results through contribution to the production of papers for high quality journals and presentations at national/international conferences or seminars.
• Actively contribute to project meetings and research advisory group meetings.
• Assist with the co‑supervision of undergraduate/postgraduate project students and/or PhD students.
• Carry out other duties, commensurate with the grade and remit of the post.

Our diverse community of staff and students recognises the unique abilities, backgrounds, and beliefs of all. We foster a culture where everyone feels they belong and is respected. Even if your past experience doesn’t match perfectly with this role’s criteria, your contribution is valuable, and we encourage you to apply.

• Have a PhD (or equivalent postdoctoral level work experience) in remote sensing or a related field.
• Have experience or knowledge in plant science or micrometeorology.
• Experience in collecting, processing and analysing remote sensing data.
• Experience with one or more programming languages (e.g., Python, R, Matlab, Fortran).
• Previous experience running successful field experiments and data collection.
• Have sufficient depth of specialist knowledge in the discipline to deliver world class research.
• Preparedness to travel nationally and internationally for research collaborations and scientific conferences.
• Excellent interpersonal skills, oral and written communication skills in English.
• Ability to work independently to develop skills needed to address the project tasks in a timely manner.
• Ability to work effectively as a team member in a multidisciplinary team that includes graduate students, post‑graduate researchers, academics, and professionals.
• Experience in measuring leaf gas‑exchange and plant traits (desirable).
• A familiarity with sensor instrumentation (desirable).

• Grade: 7
• Salary: £38,784 – £41,064 per annum
• Work arrangement:
  Full‑time (100% FTE)
• Duration:
  Fixed term from 1 February 2026 for a period of 37 months
• Line manager:
  Senior…