Deadline for submission of applications: 15:00hrs on 11th October 2024
The Welsh Government (WG) Peatland Restoration and Land Use Planning Unit is seeking a PhD student for a placement opportunity. The Team is responsible for Best and Most Versatile (BMV)[1] land protection policy, mineral & waste reclamation to agriculture and peatland restoration.
Increasing information on soils involves promoting monitoring of soil, at local and national scales to enhance understanding of trends, threats, and opportunities for achieving resilient soils. Existing data has provided an important national snapshot of the current state of soils in Wales (e.g. stable trend in soil organic matter content on improved land). Collecting more detailed, long-term information on Welsh soils would help to track trends, target interventions, assess the effectiveness of policies and practices for protecting soils, and shape future approaches. Filling the gaps in knowledge and evidence will also be important in light of the new challenges soils may face from climate change.
We would like a soil scientist PhD placement to help us understand what effective soil monitoring would look like through a review of existing monitoring approaches in Wales and in the rest of the UK. This would include priorities for monitoring, scale – local or national – applicability to the Welsh context and any gaps in measures.
Purpose of the Post
The post holder will undertake a review of existing soil monitoring approaches to identify appropriate measures for a Welsh context that could enhance our current understanding. This will build on the objectives of the ASPS to help us understand how we could operationalise increasing information on Welsh soils. The post holder will be supported by the Soils Policy and Land Use Team to review the existing evidence and produce a report of their findings, including any recommendations.
The post holder will be encouraged to develop their own ideas for the soil policy statement, supported by the WG Soil Policy Team.
The intention is to host a placement for a 3-month period, although longer placements of up to six months would be considered.
For further information about the post and the application process please download the following document: