[MARMAM] Post doc at University of La Rochelle (France) in food web modelling

[Jérôme Spitz]

In the scope of the project FACTS (Forage Fish Interactions), funded 
under the FP7 European
Program, we are looking for candidates for a postdoctoral position of 18 
months to be based
in La Rochelle, in the Joint Research Unit “Littoral ENvironnement et 
Sociétés, LIENSs”
CNRS – La Rochelle University, in collaboration with the Instituto 
Español De Oceanografía.

The main objective of this work will be to evaluate ecosystem-level 
consequences of potential
shifts in distribution and abundance of the main target species of the 
fisheries in the Bay of
Biscay, especially in relation to the conservation of the top predators 
of the Bay. As part of
the French Programme National Environnement Côtier, a preliminary model 
has been
established by Nathalie Niquil, gathering all information then available 
about pelagic
compartments. The work of the postdoc will be 1) to update the available 
datasets and to
establish appropriate spatial units for modelling, 2) to implement an 
end-to-end model using
Ecopath with Ecosim, 3) to make a stability analysis of the food web 
obtained in order to
establish the most sensitive compartments and processes, and 4) to run 
simulations of various
scenarios concerning changes in environmental conditions, fish abundance 
and fishery
legislation, with particular focus on implications for conservation of 
top predators. The tools
available in the Ecopath with Ecosim will be complemented with other 
methods derived from
Inverse Analysis (Kones et al 2009) and Stability Analysis (Hosack and 
Eldridge 2008).

The main contributors will be, i) in LIENSs, Nathalie Niquil for food 
web modelling, and
Paco Bustamante, Vincent Ridoux, Jérôme Spitz and Florence Caurant for 
marine mammal
foraging strategies and predator-prey interactions, ii) in IEO, Miguel 
Bernal for fish ecology,
and Begoña Santos and Graham Pierce, for marine mammal foraging 
strategies and predator-
prey interactions. The collaborations will also involve researchers from 
IFREMER and other
European participant to the FACTS program.

We seek candidates with relevant knowledge and experience in ecosystem 
analysis and
modelling. Candidates should ideally already possess a background in 
trophic network
analysis and a high level of computational skills.

Please send a cv, 2 recommendation letters and a motivation letter, in 
pdf format, to Nathalie
Niquil (nniquil at univ-lr.fr) before March, 30 th . The 18 month contract 
will be based at La
Rochelle in the LIENSs joint research unit 
(http://lienss.univ-larochelle.fr/) and will be funded
by the FACTS project. It will begin September 1 st , 2010 and the salary 
will correspond to the
CNRS postdoctoral level, i.e. around 2000 Euros net per month.