The Organization
The International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) is part of the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT. CIAT delivers research-based solutions that harness agricultural biodiversity and sustainably transform food systems to improve people's lives. CIAT solutions address the global crisis of malnutrition, climate change, biodiversity loss, and environmental degradation.
CIAT works with local, national and multinational partners across Latin America and the Caribbean, Asia and Africa, and with the public and private sectors. CIAT is part of CGIAR, a global research partnership for a food-secure future, dedicated to transforming food, land and water systems in a climate crisis.
About the position
CIAT is looking for a skilled climate modeler to support the agroclimatology team in crop-climate modelling. This work will feed into a user-friendly platform which enables private sector sourcing companies, agronomic teams, farmers, and researchers to explore climate layers, risk and opportunity areas for crop production as well as environmental trends over time.
Key duties and responsibilitiesย
Research and Analysis:
Support crop analysis efforts by assisting in data collection and in-depth analysis on crop physiology, productivity and trend analysis;
Work with climate datasets from diverse sources and models (i.e. Copernicus, WorldClim, TerraClimate) under guidance, learning how to process and interpret them for agricultural analysis;
Run and interpret machine learning and statistical models (e.g. GAMs) to understand crop-climate interactions and future climate impact on crop production;
Help compile and organize data from diverse datasets, including climate models, satellite imagery, and agronomic data, to enhance the accuracy of predictions;
Contribute to systems thinking methodologies to analyze interactions, feedback loops, and emergent behaviors within the targeted systems.
Communication and Outreach:
Support the communication of research findings by contributing to internal reports, visual summaries, and draft content for presentations or publications;
Engage with other research teams (business impact modelling) to communicate findings and outputs.
Interdisciplinary Collaboration:
Collaborate with experts from various disciplines, including ecology, sociology, economics, and policy, to foster a holistic understanding of complex systems.
Continuous Learning:
Stay abreast of the latest developments in agroclimatology, complexity theory, and plant physiology research;
Actively seek opportunities for professional development and contribute to building the knowledge base within the organization.