The Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology at Cornell University announces a one-year POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCH ASSOCIATE position focusing on legume crop diversity in Ethiopia. The position is based at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, but will include extended periods working in Ethiopia, training graduate students and conducting field work in rural communities.
The Legume Diversity Project is an integrated research and education program investigating the status and significance of legume diversity to smallholder farming systems in Ethiopia. The project is a collaboration between Cornell, five Ethiopian universities, and the Ethiopian Biodiversity Institute, with support from the McKnight Foundation’s Collaborative Crop Research Program. The postdoc will assist with training 16 Ethiopian MSc and PhD students in statistical analysis using MS Excel and the R programming language, open-source geographic information systems (Q-GIS), and scientific writing. The postdoc will mentor students as they write theses and dissertation chapters, and collaborate with faculty to publish scientific articles, extension materials, and policy briefs. The postdoc will also develop a field research project related to legume diversity in Ethiopia. Areas of interest include but are not limited to crop wild relatives; seed exchange networks; gender analysis; dietary diversity; and climate adaptation. The postdoc will be directly supervised by Alison Power (Cornell) and will work closely with Morgan Ruelle (Clark University) and Ethiopian partners. The position is available for 12 months beginning January 15, 2019, with the possibility of an additional 12 months contingent on continued funding. Salary is competitive, commensurate with background and experience. The ideal candidate will hold a recent Ph.D. in a relevant discipline, such as agroecology, ethnobotany, ecology, environmental science, geography, or agricultural sciences; and have significant prior overseas experience working in a rural setting. She or he should have a demonstrated in interest in topics related to agrobiodiversity, expertise in R and GIS, and teaching experience in a variety of contexts. The candidate must have excellent written and oral communication skills, and the ability to collaborate with diverse partner institutions and community participants. To apply, please submit a cover letter detailing interest in the position, CV, and contact information for 3 professional references to Alison Power at a...@cornell.edu. Review of applications will begin December 3, 2018 and continue until the position is filled.
