Postdoc position on “Global Biomass flows of Aerial Migrants (GloBAM) - Insect migration” at the Swiss Ornithological Institute

GloBAM is a BioDivERsa (www.biodiversa.org) research project with partners in Switzerland, Belgium, Finland, The Netherlands and the USA.

Migratory animals play significant roles in shaping ecosystems through a variety of transport and trophic effects that also represent services and disservices to human infrastructure, agriculture and welfare. Their aerial and terrestrial habitats have changed dramatically over the past decades and are expected to change further, particularly from rapid climate change, increased urbanization, wind energy installations, and habitat fragmentation.
Within GloBAM, we aim at quantifying the biomass flows of aerial migrants from regional to continental scales in Europe and North America and over time-scales from days to years from weather radar data. We are particularly interested in identifying the drivers of movements and migrant abundances and will relate the timing and intensity of movements to a suite of atmospheric, climatic and landscape/habitat variables. For these external variables, we will use their past and present distributions but also develop scenarios of potential future changes and explore their implications for aerial migrants.

We seek two enthusiastic postdoctoral researchers to join our GloBAM-team at the Swiss Ornithological Institute Sempach, Switzerland (www.vogelwarte.ch).

Specific tasks of this position

• To develop algorithms for extracting insect migration from weather radar data


• To quantify the annual and seasonal biomass of insects moving over US using open-access NEXRAD data


• To identify the link between patterns of insect migration and biotic and abiotic factors, including climatic variables, land use, wind energy installations, and artificial light.


• To contribute to a synthesis of avian and insect biomass flows, their quantification and implications

The ideal candidate has

• A PhD in signal processing, engineering or physics, or a PhD in animal ecology with experience in radar biology;


• Strong interest/ familiarity in radar aeroecology, migration ecology or related fields;


• Expertise in handling large datasets, programming skills and strong quantitative skills;


• Excellent communication skills and interest in working in a collaborative project

Research in this project will be co-supervised by Jason Chapman (biosciences.exeter.ac.uk/staff/index.php?web_id=Jason_Chapman) and regular research visits are planned to this and other project partners.

The position is for three years with a starting date of 1 April 2019. Salary is in accordance to the regulations of the Swiss National Science Foundation (www.snf.ch) and to the salary scale of the Swiss Ornithological Institute, with approx. 6200 CHF gross per month in the first year.

Applications should include a letter of motivation detailing research interests and experience, a CV with publication list and contact information of two academic referees. Please submit applications stating “GloBAM Insects” as a single pdf to Irene Schuhmacher (irene.schumacher@vogelwarte.ch) before 17 February 2019. Interviews will tentatively take place in March 2019.

Further information on GloBAM and this position can be requested from Silke Bauer (silke.Bauer@vogelwarte.ch). Please note that there are two more post-doctoral positions within GloBAM that are advertised by consortium partners at the University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands (ibed.uva.nl/) and at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, USA (www.birds.cornell.edu/page.aspx?pid=1662). Details of all four positions can be found at www.enram.eu/globam/.

The Swiss Ornithological Institute is a non-profit organisation and the largest private field research institute in Switzerland. We regularly collaborate with different universities in Switzerland and abroad. The Swiss Ornithological Institute disseminates information on birds to the public, media and authorities, works out scientific facts in ornithology and provides arguments for the conservation of birds. Together with our partners, we make sure that nature benefits from the existing knowledge and law.