POSITION TITLE: Research engineer - modeling population dynamics and connectivity in fragmented landscapes 1-General information - Workplace: IMBE, Aix-en-Provence workplace - Institution: Aix Marseille Universit� - Date of publication: 01/06/2025 - Duration of the contract: 1 year - Hiring date: 01/09/2025 - Working time: 100% of the time - Desired level of study: Engineer diploma or PhD - Desired experience: none 2-Missions The research engineer will join a team that contributes to the modeling of ecological continuities as part of various research projects with an objective of conservation and/or land management. The person will carry out spatially explicit individual-based modeling (via the RangeShifter platform) and graph-based approaches for species representative of various environments. In particular, the person will take part in 1) a fundamental research project on the impacts of landscape planning on the dynamics and genetics of populations of the European red squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris) in fragmented landscapes in the south of France; 2) a participative scenario-building and integration project for renaturation actions to reinforce ecological continuities in an area of Ile de France. He/she will ensure the biological relevance of his/her modeling outputs. He/she will write up the results in the form of scientific reports and articles in collaboration with the project teams. He/she may also present his/her results at a scientific conference. Finally, he/she may contribute to the collection of spatial data on red squirrels (e.g. GPS data) currently underway in our team, which will enable the model to be validated. 3-Activities Numerical simulations, data analysis, valorisation of modelling work. 4-Skills Good modelling skills (spatially-explicit individual-based models) and use of numerical tools. Basic knowledge in population genetics and landscape ecology Good level of scientific English Team work Plus: interest for field work, previous knowledge of RangeShifter. 5-Context of work The loss and fragmentation of natural habitats is a major threat to biodiversity. On the one hand, there is a strong consensus that conserving biodiversity requires preserving a large amount of natural habitats, while on the other hand, the spatial configuration (or arrangement) of habitats to conserve biodiversity has been the subject of intense debate since the 1970s. More precisely, for a certain quantity of habitats in a landscape, are there spatial configurations that are really more favourable than others for maintaining biodiversity? This debate is extremely lively in the current literature, with two opposing scientific communities: those who defend the fact that managing the spatial configuration of habitats is essential for conservation versus those who assert that managing the configuration is of little interest and that conservation only requires the preservation and restoration of natural habitats. The two phenomena, habitat loss and fragmentation, are not independent: when the amount of habitat in a landscape decreases, the remaining 'pieces' of habitat become smaller and more widely spaced, making the debate difficult to resolve. Given the high land pressure around the world today, the opportunities to maintain or restore habitats in large quantities are limited. Designing territories to optimise the spatial configuration of habitats and the resistance of the landscape matrix (i.e. the difficulty organisms have in crossing the spaces between habitat areas) appears in this context to be the only option for conserving biodiversity. In this context, the host team of this position is involved in the SCALED (https://www.scaled-erc.eu) and FAR (https://erable.archi.fr/projets/fictions-danticipation-de-renaturation) research projects, which respectively aim to: 1) identify the respective roles of habitat quantity and configuration on movements (gene flow) in red squirrels (Sciurus vulgaris), 2) develop renaturation scenarios for a dense urban area and understand their impacts on biodiversity. 6-Constraints Some fieldwork sessions or meetings involving potential travelling. 7-Work details Gross monthly salary: 2357 euros. Work team: The person will be located at the IMBE, in Aix-en-Provence, France. They will work with C�cile Albert (IMBE) and Aur�lie Coulon (MNHN-CESCO and CEFE). 8-Application Send a resume and a cover letter CV to C�cile Albert (cecile.albert@imbe.fr) and Aur�lie Coulon (aurelie.coulon@mnhn.fr) by June 21st, 2025. Aur�lie Coulon, PhD Maitre de Conf�rences (Associate Professor) du Mus�um national d'Histoire naturelle Centre d'Ecologie et des Sciences de la COnservation (CESCO) UMR 7204 D�partement Homme et Environnement Mus�um national d�Histoire naturelle 43 rue Buffon CP 135 75005 Paris France et Centre d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive (CEFE) UMR 5175 Equipe Mouvement, Distribution, Abondance (MAD) 1919 route de Mende 34293 Montpellier 5 France Internet: aureliecoulon.net http://cesco.mnhn.fr/fr www.cefe.cnrs.fr Aur�lie Coulon (to subscribe/unsubscribe the EvolDir send mail to golding@mcmaster.ca)