Job Description
1 Vacancies
Senior Scientist-Vadose Zone Hydrology -ICRISAT Development Centre
ICRISAT seeks applications from Indian nationals, for the position of ‘Senior Scientist –Vadose Zone Hydrology – ICRISAT Development Centre’’ to support activities of Global Research Program a Resilient Farm and Food Systems (GRP-RF&FS) on Natural Resource Management. There is a requirement of 1 positions where the incumbent will be based in ICRISAT, Patancheru, Hyderabad,Telangana, India to support ICRISAT Development Center (IDC) and will report to Global Research Program Director, RF&FS, ICRISAT. As RF&FS involved in a number of research and development projects towards Natural Resource Management, this position is intended to undertake research on soil moisture dynamics, meteorology, spatial modeling, estimating crop water requirement, water budgeting and soil moisture-based irrigation scheduling and instrumentation.
ICRISAT is a non-profit, non-political organization that conducts agricultural research for development in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa with a wide array of partners throughout the world. Covering 6.5 million square kilometers of land in 55 countries, the semi- arid or dryland tropics has over 2 billion people and 644 million of these are the poorest of the poor. ICRISAT and its partners help empower these disadvantaged populations to overcome poverty, hunger and a degraded environment through better agricultural production systems.
ICRISAT is headquartered at Patancheru near Hyderabad, India, with two regional hubs and eight country offices in sub-Saharan Africa. ICRISAT envisions a prosperous, food-secure and resilient dryland tropic. Its mission is to reduce poverty, hunger, malnutrition and environmental degradation in the dryland tropics. ICRISAT conducts research on its mandate crops of chickpea, pigeonpea, groundnut, sorghum, pearl millet and finger millet in the arid and semi-arid tropics. The Institute focuses its work on the drylands and in protecting the environment. Tropical dryland areas are usually seen as resource-poor and perennially beset by shocks such as drought, thereby trapping dryland communities in poverty and hunger and making them dependent on external aid. Please visit – www.icrisat.org
Responsibilities:
· Carry out cutting edge research on vadose zone soil moisture dynamics, and understand the impact of various in-situ interventions on vadose zone soil moisture availability and its dynamics in different soils and agro-ecologies
· Characterization of soil physical parameters using field and lab-based measurement techniques and inverse simulation modeling
· State-of-the-art instrumentation to monitor soil moisture and meteorological parameters including evapotranspiration
· Identifying hot spots of poor soil moisture availability and framing strategies for designing suitable cropping systems
· Develop Land Resource Inventory protocols for designing landscape resource conservation interventions
· Develop various modules/algorithms for analysing water budget components at spatial and temporal scales
· To organize capacity building programs on water balance/ water management components to various stakeholders including field functionaries of different line departments
· Publications in peer reviewed journals
- Ability to communicate across multiple cultural contexts and across scientific disciplines
Requirements:
§ Ph. D in natural resources management/environmental engineering/related NRM disciplines with working experience of minimum 5 years
§ Demonstrated skills on vadose zone soil moisture data collection, estimation of actual evapotranspiration at temporal and spatial scale
§ Knowledge on handling micro meteorological instruments and maintaining data base
§ Adapt and or develop experimental methods/concepts to support research in vadose zone hydrology
§ Capacity to effectively communicate research for development concepts to technical and non-technical stakeholders
§ Independently plan and carry out research on the nominated research project and work towards fulfilling the aims of the project
§ Candidate with skills in R programming, GIS and remote sensing will be preferred
§ Ability to develop effective relationships and work harmoniously in outcome focused and multi-disciplinary team environment
§ Willingness to travel to out station locations for instrumentation and data collection
§ High-level written, oral and interpersonal communication skills, including demonstrated experience on preparing reports and research papers within required timeframe for a range of audience.
§ Perform other duties as requested by Global Program Director, RF&FS
General:
This is a contractual position for a period of 36 months.
How to apply:
Applicants should apply on or before 09 February 2023, with their latest Resume, and the names and contact information of three references that are knowledgeable about their professional qualifications and work experience. All applications will be acknowledged; however only short-listed candidates will be contacted.
ICRISAT is an equal opportunity employer
Key Skills
Meteorology,
Water Budgeting,
Instrumentation
Additional/Preferred Skills
Spatial Modelling,
R-Programming
Preferred Qualifications
PhD
Preferred Industry Experience
Environmental Eng.
Why ICRISAT?
ICRISAT offers a rewarding career opportunity in dryland agricultural research to have a lasting impact on millions of lives and communities. The state of the art research infrastructure with high performance culture, ICRISAT provides global exposure and learning. For more details, visit www.icrisat.org
