Research Associate; Limited-Term

Job Duties

The position focuses on field and laboratory experiments examining the impact of sulphur on phosphorus and carbon dynamics in freshwater sediments. The successful candidate will:

• Design and execute the field and laboratory experiments on the impact of elevated sulphur content on phosphorus, iron and carbon speciation in lake sediments, geochemical speciation and microbial activities.
• Develop and refine sequential fractionation techniques for sulphur, iron, manganese, and phosphorus in lake sediment samples and sediment slurries, and link the impacts to microbial activities.
• Characterize sediment using advanced structural analysis XRD, Rietveld Refinement techniques, TGA/DSC, SEM/EDX, HRTEM, UV/Vis, FTIR and Raman spectroscopy.
• Perform laboratory experiments on sulphur and oxygen isotopes in sulphate and phosphate, testing the hypothesis about the changes in the pathways of changes.
• Collaborate with team members to develop detailed research plans, write proposals, and manage laboratory instruments.
• Prepare high-quality research reports, publications, and presentations for dissemination in peer‑reviewed journals and conferences.
• Mentor and assist in training graduate and undergraduate students in relevant research techniques.
• Support the overall research and teaching missions of the research group.

• Candidate must have a Ph.D. in Geochemistry, Biogeochemistry, Environmental Sciences, or a related field, with academic research experience in sediment‑water interface biogeochemistry of freshwater, coastal, and marine systems, and a minimum of five years of post‑PhD research experience in the field of biogeohemistry.
• Experience in the design of field lake and coastal systems is essential, including planning and executing multi‑station sampling campaigns and ship logistics.
• Experience designing and conducting laboratory experiments, multi‑treatment sediment incubation experiments under controlled sulphate gradients to quantify sulphate‑phosphorus‑iron coupling, benthic flux dynamics, and reactive cycling is required.
• Demonstrated expertise in stable isotope geochemistry of sulphur and phosphorus in sedimentary systems. This includes multiple sulphur isotope analyses (δ³⁴S, δ³³S, δ³⁶S, Δ³³S) using the distillation line, performing isotopic measurements using GC‑IRMS, and analyzing the isotopic data.
• Demonstrated expertise in phosphorus isotope geochemistry, specifically the oxygen‑isotope composition of phosphate (δ¹⁸O‑PO₄), with hands‑on experience in the extraction and purification of phosphate from sediment phosphorus pools.
• Hands‑on expertise in operationally defined sequential extraction techniques for sediment sulphur, phosphorus, iron, and manganese, e.g., acid‑volatile sulphide, chromium‑reducible sulphur, and total reduced inorganic sulphur speciation; sequential fractionation of phosphorus and iron sediment pools.
• Proven ability in recovery and sub‑sampling of intact, undisturbed gravity sediment cores, high‑resolution porewater extraction and depth‑resolved water‑column sampling using Niskin/CTD, YSI, and PAR systems.
• Practical bench skills relevant to sediment biogeochemistry are also required, including ICP‑OES, GC‑IRMS, ion chromatography, and spectrophotometric determination of dissolved nutrients.
• Experience in analysis of microbial community: the ability to process 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing datasets, apply differential abundance and functional prediction approaches, and link microbial community structure and metabolic potential to sediment geochemistry.
• Proficiency in data analysis is required, including multivariate statistics and the generation of publication‑quality figures.
• Proven strong track record of peer‑reviewed research and strong scientific writing supported by a publication record in international peer‑reviewed journals.
• Excellent analytical, problem‑solving, and communication skills.
• Ability to work collaboratively in a team environment and independently on research projects.

Traveling will be required. The Research Associate will have the opportunity to present research at academic conferences.

1-year term appointment with…