Rewilding Modeller - Derby, United Kingdom - University of Derby

University of Derby

Verified Company

Derby, United Kingdom

1 week ago

Posted by:

Tom O´Connor

beBee Recruiter

Description

Job details:

College

College of Science and Engineering

Responsible to

Course Director

Location

Kedleston Road, Derby Campus

Salary

£24,000 to £28,000 per annum

Closing date

Sunday 2 April 2023

Contract type

Fixed term contract 21 months

Post type

Full-time

Reference

0045-22

About the role:

Derbyshire Wildlife Trust (DWT) and the University of Derby are developing a Centre of Excellence, to focus on the development of natural capital and Biodiversity Net Gain through rewilding.

We are offering an exciting opportunity for 2 Knowledge Exchange Partnership (KTP) Associates to form a key part of this Centre of Excellence and will use remote sensing data and predictive modelling to project the natural recovery of ecologically poor-quality land to ecologically complex and diverse land.

This Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) can be sold as habitat units to developers, to mitigate damage done through their construction projects.

These are two of the roles associated with the Centre of Excellence and are focussed on BNG, but will also look at other ecosystem services and natural capital, which will enable us to become the leading provider of nature based solutions in the county, with a national reputation for excellence.

This KTP role is for a
Rewilding Modeller.

About The Role

You will develop a predictive model that can be used to plot the trajectory of habitats through rewilding, in order to provide biodiversity net gain units for sale to developers.

The initial phase will involve developing a conceptual framework, on which the eventual model will build.

Input data will include physical site information (soil chemistry and geology, hydrology, proximal seed sources etc), existing quantitative and modelled data from DWT (e.g.

current habitat and biodiversity maps), combined with information about habitat outcomes (e.g. known patterns of habitat succession and impacts of particular management or natural processes). You will use meta-analytical tools to evaluate the published literature, and interview tools (e.g. Delphi techniques) to gather expert opinion from DWT.

The final phase will be to write the simulation model to predict the 30 year biodiversity trajectory of habitat units, which will be refined in response to Earth Observation and other monitoring data.

Whilst this role is a fixed term contract, DWT is anticipating a transition to permanent roles with the Wildlife Trust or its consultancy, Wild Solutions, at the end of the Innovate UK funded period.

We are happy to talk flexible working

This role will be based at the DWT office in Middleton, with regular sessions at the University of Derby, although a balance of home and office working is likely.

We are a local charity so applicants should be easily able to access our office and other locations around the county.

About University of Derby

University of Derby's College of Science and Engineering in partnership with Derbyshire Wildlife Trust are offering an exciting career-development opportunity to manage and deliver a challenging strategic Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) project.

Based at the company premises, you will be employed by the University as a KTP Associate but work under the terms and conditions of the Wildlife Trust.

Using your knowledge and skills to support the business and achieve specific project aims, you will receive on-going support from a Company Supervisor, Academic Supervisor and Academic Lead from the University of Derby to help you deliver.

A personal training and development budget will also be available for you to access, as well as receiving access to the same training opportunities and facilities as University staff.

Knowledge Transfer Partnerships
This full-time post is part-funded by the UK Government's KTP programme. A KTP is a three-way project between a graduate, an organisation and a university.

KTP is one of the UK's largest graduate recruitment programmes and has been placing graduates on challenging, high profile projects for almost 45 years.

In addition to a competitive salary and core KTP development training, you will have a dedicated budget of £4,000 for further training and career development.

To find out more about the scheme visit:
ktp-
Principal accountabilities:

Identify and undertake staff development to ensure up to date skills and knowledge in the field.
Gather the information needed to produce a conceptual framework as a basis for the project.
Develop a predictive model to track the trajectory of biodiversity net gain on habitat units managed by DWT.
Work as part of the KTP project, and with the remote sensing KTP associate, with the aim of providing a commercial opportunity for DWT to sell biodiversity units to developers through the Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) scheme.
Work as part of the Centre of Excellence business unit with the other KTP associates and liaise with supervisors at DWT and the University on a reg