Do you want to move to Gothenburg for two years, and do research about pastoralism in East Africa? Do you want to - among other things – work on a choice experiment study with Göran Bostedt? Do you want to contribute in a large, interdisciplinary research group full of fun people who love to travel around all day on dirt roads in East Africa that are indescribably bumpy?
Then you will fit right in! Here is an opening for a post-doc position at the School of Global Studies in Gothenburg. You will work in the Drylands Transform, and paradoxically you will partly work with Göran Bostedt, despite being employed by the University of Gothenburg.
We are searching for a doctoral student to join the Department of Forest Economics at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) in Umeå. The student will engage in the study of sustainable management of forest resources applying economic principles and econometric models. In this context, forest resource management can range from forest owner harvesting decisions, to industry-level behaviors responding to public policies, to the monetarization of forest ecosystem services. The final focus of the Ph.D. program will be determined by the candidate’s and mentor’s common interests. Candidates are encouraged to review research conducted by Dr. Tommy Lundgren Professor, Department of Forest Economics.
The selected PhD candidate will be involved in interdisciplinary efforts at the SLU Department of Forest Economics. The candidate will be involved in: identifying a research topic that expands the state-of-knowledge integrating economics and forest resource management or forest sector modeling; developing relevant research questions, developing a theoretical framework and an appropriate research design; applying appropriate econometric tools or analytical models; writing scientific manuscripts and produce a Ph.D. thesis suitable for examination. Course work is also included in the PhD program.
The PhD program consists of 4-year full-time studies where the position is to be contracted based on annual evaluations.
New York Times rapporterar om den växande pelletsindustrin i sydöstra USA. En industri som är källa till både arbetstillfällen på landsbygd men även förorenare och miljöförstörare. Artikeln bygger på en studie som letts av SLU forskaren Francisco X. Aguilar. Studien visar att träd i närheten av pelletsfabrikerna hade mer lagrad kol än på andra platser. Däremot visar studien även på potentiella trender där färre stående död ved lämnas och att marken lagrar mindre kol i närheten av fabrikerna.
New York Times utgår i sin artikel publicerad 19 april 2021 från ett brett perspektiv i en granskning av den blomstrande pelletsindustrin i sydöstra USA. Människor påverkas olika och artikeln belyser allt från grannen vars sömn störs av fabriken, professionella som oroar sig för de ekologiska konsekvenserna till industrirepresentanter. Artikeln är till stor del baserad på den vetenskapliga studien ledd av SLU professorn Francisco X. Aguilar. Studien belyser både de positiva och negativa effekterna av pelletsindustrin. Produktionsskogar i närheten av pelletsfabriker i sydöstra USA hade mer kol lagrat i träden än skog på andra platser. Däremot visar även studien att det finns oroande trender på minskande antal stående död ved och att marken förlorar mer kol på marker i närheten av fabrikerna, något som kan få negativa konsekvenser om det fortgår. (Klicka på rubriken för att läsa mer)
The magazine Resources interviews Francisco X. Aguilar where he discusses his recent co-authored study that takes a closer look at how the European Union’s Renewable Energy Directive helped shape the health of forests across the southeastern United States and contributed to the growth of the US wood pellet industry.
“A major takeaway is that energy from biomass can be renewable, but it must be tested. We must have data, and we must have information to validate the renewable characteristic of the energy and whether it can reduce carbon emissions or not, compared to other alternative sources … From a policy perspective, I think monitoring, being dynamic, and being open to make sure that we’re balancing economic objectives with conservation objectives, are key.” (23:03)
