Research Officer – School of Ocean Sciences at Bangor University
Applications are invited for this 21-month, full-time Research Officer position to investigate the role of vertical fluxes in the export of Indian Ocean water into the South Atlantic across the Cape Basin as part of the joint USA-UK QUICCHE “Quantifying interocean fluxes across the Cape Cauldron hotspot of eddy kinetic energy” project that aims to measure the fluxes of heat, salt and freshwater carried by eddying flows at a range of scales across the energetic Cape Basin. The role will be based in the School of Ocean Sciences at Bangor University.
The successful candidate will join an established team at SOS working on the topic of ocean mixing at mid- to high-latitudes, on continental shelf seas and ocean basins. The post holder will be expected to participate in the collection of field data at sea during the upcoming March/April 2023 process cruise and will be responsible for the processing and analysis of the turbulence data from that cruise from turbulence profilers and inferred from the finescale parametrisation of the glider and CTD data. Their results will contribute to the quantification of eddy fluxes of heat, salt and freshwater across the Cape Cauldron (so termed because of the elevated eddy kinetic energy). The post holder will be expected to lead papers to be published in peer-reviewed journals, present their results at conferences and be active in science communication. This is an exciting multi-institution international project, and the post holder is expected to liaise with the project partners and take an active part role in moving the project forward.
This Bangor-based Research Officer role will primarily be responsible quantifying the vertical mixing occurring within the Cape Basin in the Agulhas Rings and the associated submesoscale features, slope boundary current, and background mixing rates from moored observations. The Bangor researcher will also participate in the joint research carried out within QUICCHE.
Candidates should possess a PhD (or be near completion) or equivalent in Physical Oceanography or a related field. Previous experience in the analysis of turbulence microstructure profiler data, large oceanographic or atmospheric data sets is desirable.
The candidate must be prepared to join the main process cruise in March-April 2023 from Cape Town, South Africa.
The successful candidate will be expected to commence their position on 1 January 2023, or as soon as possible thereafter. and the post is available until 30th September 2024.
This role will be located on campus at Bangor. Through our Dynamic Working framework, there will also be the option to spend some time working remotely (although remaining in the UK) to support work life balance, which will be discussed further with candidates at interview.
Applications will also be considered to carry out this role on a part-time or job share basis.
Please submit a 2-page CV in addition to the completed application form.
Informal enquiries about the post may be made to Dr Yueng-Djern Lenn (y.lenn@bangor.ac.uk).
Applications will only be accepted via our online recruitment website, jobs.bangor.ac.uk. However, in cases of access issues due to disability, paper application forms are available by telephoning 01248 383865.
Closing date for applications: 29 July 2022.
Committed To Equal Opportunities
Overview
The School of Ocean Sciences (SOS), located on the beautiful shores of the Isle of Anglesey, is a multidisciplinary department with a focus on continental shelf sciences and a strong history of international research excellence and collaboration. Core research interests include oceanography, marine biology and ecology, aquaculture & fisheries, biogeochemistry and climate change science. This position will be based in the SOS – a state-of-the-art facility that acts as a hub for cross-disciplinary research, reflecting the interdisciplinary nature of marine science in the College of Environmental Sciences and Engineering.
The Project
The Cape Basin in the southeast Atlantic is a global hotspot of eddy kinetic energy, fed by a leakage of waters from the subtropical Indian Ocean via the Agulhas Current. A proportion of warm and salty Agulhas waters are vigorously stirred and mixed into the cooler and fresher Atlantic by co-interacting rings and eddies. The basin has been dubbed the Cape Cauldron. Until now the focus of physical studies in the Cape Cauldron has largely been on discrete, deep-reaching anticyclonic Agulhas rings, which can often be tracked for many months, sometimes years, using satellite altimetry. These rings and the warm and salty water masses they entrap have been studied extensively to estimate the magnitude of inter-ocean exchange, called Agulhas leakage, between the Indian and Atlantic Oceans. Yet, studies suggest that most Agulhas leakage is found outside these rings. We hypothesize that a large proportion of the Indian Ocean waters that leak into the Atlantic are to be found in submesoscale features generated by the mesoscale strain field. Observations of these features are lacking, as are estimates of the fluxes they affect. To fill this gap we propose to: (1) Observe and characterize submesoscale features generated by the mesoscale eddy strain field within the Cape Cauldron for the first time. (2) Make novel estimates of Agulhas leakage fluxes with these new observations, using theoretical eddy diffusivity and eddy flux frameworks. (3) Relate diffusivity and fluxes to new and existing satellite altimeter observations to infer variability in Agulhas leakage. We will collect new observations within the Cape Basin, targeting several dynamical regimes – e.g. fila- mentation, eddy interaction – to measure the related submesoscale features and estimate diffusivities. From these measurements we will quantify eddy heat and salt fluxes, similar to the way poleward heat flux has been estimated in the Southern Ocean. We will use both Eulerian and Lagrangian instrumentation, including moorings, an undulating CTD system, gliders, drifters, profiling floats, and microstructure turbulence profilers, capturing time and space scales from hours to seasons and from 1 to 100 km. Our new observations will be synthesized and analyzed with other datasets, including measurements from the SWOT crossover in the Cape Basin and output from a 1/60 simulation.
Purpose of the Job
This position has been funded by the Natural Environment Research Council as part of the joint USA-UK QUICCHE “Quantifying interocean fluxes across the Cape Cauldron hotspot of eddy kinetic energy” project that aims to measure the fluxes of heat, salt and freshwater carried by eddying flows at a range of scales across the energetic Cape Basin. The researcher will join the School of Ocean Sciences physical oceanography group, and the rest of the QUICCHE community that includes US QUICCHE investigators at the Universities of Miami and Rhode Island, as well as project partners in Sweden, Germany and South Africa. The observational program will utilize an exciting suite of moorings, gliders, drifters, vertical microstructure profilers and fast-underway-CTD systems to quantify the contributions from eddy fluxes and mean flows.
Main Duties and Responsibilities
- Gathering and analysis of data. This will include the collection of data at sea and from satellite and reanalysis datasets; processing, quality control and analysis of turbulence data.
- Delivering research outcomes through: collaborations with other project scientists and project partners, participation in project workshops, publication of peer-reviewed articles and presentations at national and international conferences.
- Administration of the research project: including coordinating the project to meet aims and objectives.
- Other duties and responsibilities specific to the role include . This could include: advise and collaborate with Masters and PhD students within the research programme.
Other Duties and Responsibilities
- The post holder will be expected to participate in performance review and developmental activities.
- The post holder will be expected to comply with the University’s equality policies and statements, Dignity at Work and Study Policy and the University’s Welsh Language Scheme.
- The post holder has a general and legal duty of care in relation to health, safety and wellbeing and must take all reasonable steps to ensure a safe and healthy working environment for him/her self and for other members of staff, students and visitors affected by his/her actions or inactions. The post holder is also required to comply with all applicable health and safety policies, procedures and risk assessments.
- The post holder must comply with relevant legal and financial policies and procedures and be aware of their responsibilities in terms of the legal requirements of their post.
Person Specification
Qualifications/Training
Essential
- A PhD or near to completion of a PhD in physical oceanography or a related discipline such as meteorology.
Experience/Knowledge
Essential
- An understanding of the fundamentals of fluid dynamics and/or physical oceanography.
- A solid background in mathematics and physics.
- Experience with computer programming, such as MATLAB, Python or equivalent.
- Demonstrated ability to plan and conduct quantitative analysis, and to develop and test hypotheses.
- Experience in analysing oceanographic data.
- Proven track record in science communication commensurate with the level of Research Officer e.g. peer-reviewed articles, conference presentations.
Desirable
- Experience in collecting data at sea.
- Experience in processing, quality control and analysis of microstructure turbulence data.
- Expertise in eddy dynamics.
Skills/Abilities
Essential
- Ability to work and communicate effectively across a network of researchers within the programme.
- Excellent interpersonal skills.
- Ability to join the main process cruise in March-April 2023 from Cape Town, South Africa.
- Demonstrate an understanding of the bilingual nature of the institution and area, and the ensuing responsibilities.
Desirable
- Proven project management skills.
General
The University is committed to supporting and promoting equality and diversity and to creating an inclusive working environment. We believe this can be achieved through attracting, developing, and retaining a diverse range of staff from many different backgrounds. We strive to develop a workforce from all sections of the community regardless of sex, gender identity, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, trans identity, relationship status, religion or belief, caring responsibilities, or age. We promote and facilitate the use of the Welsh language through our progressive Welsh Language Policy. We comply with the Welsh Language Standards and are committed to equality of opportunity. You are welcome to apply for any job in English or Welsh and all applications submitted will be treated equally.
We are a member of Advance HE’s Athena SWAN Gender Equality charter and hold a Bronze award in recognition of our commitment to and progress towards gender equality within the University’s policies, practices, and culture. We are proud to be a Disability Confident employer.
All members of staff have a duty to ensure their actions are in line with the overall environmental aims of the University and minimise their environmental impact.
All offers are made subject to proof of eligibility to work in the UK and receipt of satisfactory references.
All candidates must meet the requirements of UK ‘right to work’ requirements *** If you require Home Office permission to work in the UK, or need to switch your visa status in order to take this job we recommend you use the following link to information about the routes into employment and to check eligibility requirements: https://www.gov.uk/browse/visas-immigration/work-visas
Please note that we are unable to employ anyone who does not have the right to live and work in the UK legally. When applying for this post you will be required to explain the basis upon which you believe you will be able to live and work in the UK legally on the commencement date of the role should your application be successful.
Candidates should also note that they may be required to apply for an ATAS certificate (Academic Approval Technology Scheme) from the Counter-Proliferation and Arms Control Centre of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office before being able to apply for a visa – https://www.gov.uk/guidance/academic-technology-approval-scheme
Please note that, in the event of applications being received from candidates on the University’s Redeployment Register with a reasonable skills match to the post specification, these applicants will be given prior consideration.
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