Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Salary

salary will be from £44,352 on Grade F, depending on knowledge, skills and experience.

About The Role

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

This Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) funded full-time post is available from 1st December 2026 on a fixed term basis for 12 months (latest possible start date is 1st April 2027).

The starting salary will be from £44,352 on Grade F, depending on knowledge, skills and experience.

The Role
The Faculty of Environment, Science and Economy wishes to recruit a Postdoctoral Research Fellow to participate in an exciting new project called Ocean Carbon Soundscapes (OCS) to better understand the variability of ocean carbon fluxes using a novel acoustic method and cutting-edge artificial intelligence.

Project Outline:
Ocean Carbon Soundscapes addresses one of the major challenges in marine science today: improving our ability to quantify and understand the ocean carbon sink. The ocean buffers climate change by absorbing significant amounts of atmospheric carbon. Marine life is a fundamental driver of this uptake: plants in the surface ocean convert carbon into organic matter through photosynthesis. This organic carbon eventually reaches deep ocean sediments as sinking dead plant and animal material, or as faecal pellets-collectively known as "marine snow." Once deposited, it can remain stored for hundreds to thousands of years. However, the amount of carbon sequestered as marine snow-and, crucially, its variability across space and time-is poorly understood. This knowledge gap stems from limited observations and shortcomings in measurement techniques.

The primary method for measuring sinking organic carbon in the ocean is sediment traps, which typically collect samples averaged over a month. However, recent studies indicate that ocean carbon fluxes are dominated by short-lived, high-magnitude burst events that sediment traps fail to resolve. These bursts may also be vital for deep-sea communities. Without capturing these sub-daily, critical burst events, environmental drivers and ecological impacts of ocean carbon flux cannot be reliably assessed, limiting our ability to predict future carbon export. OCS will address this challenge.

Sediment traps are commonly deployed with acoustic current meters that work by assessing the frequency shift of sound pulses reflected from particles suspended in the water, and record measurements on hourly timescales. In a pilot study, we have shown that the amplitude of the acoustic backscatter - normally considered a byproduct - can be used to partition monthly sediment-trap measurements into hourly observations, revealing fine-scale variability. With a vast amount of legacy acoustic current data available globally, our method has the potential to transform how we quantify highly resolved biological carbon distributions and understand the processes driving ocean carbon storage. However, translating any acoustic backscatter to a timeseries of sinking organic carbon, is complex, characterised by many variables and strong spatial and temporal dependencies. Cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) tools are needed to unravel these connections.

Our key aims are: 1. Collate a global legacy data bank of coincident acoustic backscatter and sediment trap data, and use state-of-the-art AI to identify robust relationships that link them; 2. Apply these relationships to produce high-resolution (sub-daily) carbon flux time series and investigate burst events; 3. Use advanced AI to explore the use of environmental drivers to strengthen backscatter-carbon flux relationships and bypass the need for coincident sediment-trap measurements; 4.Disseminate results, tools, and datasets to end-users.

Ocean Carbon Soundscapes is a partnership between University of Exeter, British Antarctic Survey, National Oceanography Centre and Nortek UK.

The successful applicant will join a team of ocean and artificial intelligence scientists and take on the roll of analysing new acoustic-based ocean carbon flux datasets to understand what might be driving sub-daily changes in sinking carbon. They will lead a publication on this work. They will also be responsible for helping to collate the environmental datasets required for analysis, as well as supporting the AI-based analysis, although this aspect will be led by others in the team. They will play a major part in contributing to a Phase-Two funding proposal. The applicant will require a highly skilled background in physical or biogeochemical oceanography and/or working with remote sensing or acoustic datasets, but does not need to be an expert in artificial intelligence or machine learning (as this aspect is covered by the team). Experience in scientific paper, report and funding proposal writing would be ideal.

About You
The successful applicant will be able to develop research objectives, projects and proposals; identify sources of research funding and contribute to the process of securing funds and make presentations at conferences and other events.

Applicants will possess a relevant PhD or possess an equivalent qualification/experience in a related field of study. The successful applicant will be a nationally recognised authority in oceanography or acoustics and possess sufficient specialist knowledge in the discipline to develop research programmes and methodologies. The successful applicant will also be able to work collaboratively, supervise the work of others and act as team leader as required. Applicants will be able toshow proficiency in handling large datasets, coding (e.g. experience of Matlab or Python), and demonstrate strong quantitative skills. Experience of one or more of the following is required: ocean dynamics, ocean biogeochemistry/carbon cycles, ocean bio-physical interactions, ocean remote sensing data, or working with acoustic backscatter data. In addition, evidence of paper writing, presentation of results and good communication will be considered advantageous. We are looking for someone who is highly motivated, creative, independent and with the ambition to learn new skills and knowledge. You will work with a highly supportive team, with members from University of Exeter, the British Antarctic Survey and the National Oceanography Center Southampton. As such, you will actively engage with the wider team and be open to sharing knowledge with others.

Please ensure you read the Job Description and Person Specification for full details of this role.

Further information
Please contact insert Dr. Katy Sheen, [email protected]

About Us

Transform Your Career and Help Shape a Greener, Healthier, and Fairer Future

Join the University of Exeter, a top 200 Russell Group university (QS & THE World University Rankings 2025), excelling in teaching (triple Gold rating, TEF 2023) and leading groundbreaking research in the beautiful southwest of England.

We are committed to understanding different cultures and perspectives, supporting diverse leadership, and striving for social justice. We encourage applications from all groups underrepresented in our community, including racially minoritised individuals and those with disabilities. Our inclusive, merit based recruitment processes seek to embrace a diverse set of experiences to ensure colleagues feel supported equitably. With over 30,000 students and 7,000 staff from 140 countries, we foster a culture where everyone can thrive.

You can read more about our current accreditations and commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion here, including our commitment to the Armed Forces Covenant.

What we can offer you:

• Freedom (and the support) to pursue your intellectual interests and to work creatively across disciplines;
• Support teams that understand the University wide teaching goals and partner with our academics accordingly;
• An Innovation, Impact and Business directorate that works closely with our academics providing specialist support for external engagement and development;
• Our Exeter Academic initiative supports high performing academics to achieve their potential and develop their career;
• A multitude of staff benefits including sector leading benefits around maternity, adoption and shared parental leave (up to 26 weeks full pay), paternity leave (up to 6 weeks full pay), and a Fertility Treatment Policy;
• A beautiful campus set in the heart of stunning Devon/Cornwall.

How we can help

If you are considering applying and need support to do so, please get in touch with us at [email protected]. You can request reasonable adjustments within your application or by contacting us. You can also choose to be considered under our Disability Confident Scheme and find out here how this is managed during our recruitment and onboarding process.