I think this post doc offer at the University of La Réunion (France)
could be of the interest of the EVOLDIR community.

Post Doc in Ecohydrology offer (36 months):

In a context of climate change, understanding the effect of environment
on plants is a major challenge. In particular, it is important to
characterise rainfall and its effect on plants. Spatial and temporal
patterns of rainfall are highly heterogeneous and vary according to rain
regimes and local terrain, while raindrop characteristics (distributions
of size, terminal fall velocity, kinetic energy) can be modified
by orographic effects (altitude and local slope) that affect the
microphysical processes at play. Furthermore, raindrop characteristics
are disrupted by canopy which can make drops explode into smaller drops
or allow the generation of larger drops, while elevation of the canopy
above ground may modify the associated fall speed.

To address the effect of rainfall on plants, we identified a suitable
system: the splash-cup of the basal plant Marchantia globosa. Splash-cups
are organs involved in dispersal: progenies are dispersed away from the
parent plant by raindrops bouncing off splash-cups. This dispersal should
depend on local raindrop characteristics. The fall velocity and volume
of the raindrop determine the kinetic energy available for dispersal. Our
preliminary results raise the question of whether plants adjust, directly
or indirectly, splash-cup geometry to the local impacting raindrops in
order to maximise dispersal.

To our knowledge, no such study has been reported in the literature,
despite its ecological importance We are seeking for a postdoctoral
researcher for a 36 month position as part of a collaborative project, the
HYDROPOP ANR project, at PVBMT (Peuplements végétaux et bioagresseurs
en milieu tropical) UMR in collaboration with LaCy (Laboratoire de
l'atmosphère et des cyclones) UMR in La Réunion Island. This project
is being carried out in collaboration with the Ecole Polytechnique
(Palaiseau) and the Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle (Paris).

S.he will be responsible for the following tasks:

1) Local characterization of raindrops in a tropical mountain
   forest on Reunion Island (Mascareignes archipelago), as well as
   forest microclimates, using optical disdrometers deployed within
   the experimental setup of the Observatoire de la zone critique
   de La Réunion.

2) Investigation of the "under-canopy" rain characteristics with
   respect to "free" precipitations at the different sites
   investigated

3) Identification of the environmental parameters influencing the
   morphology of splash-cup

4) testing phenotypic plasticity of splash cups of M. globosa in the
   island of la Réunion by performing reciprocal transplantation
   experiments along an elevational gradient.

Knowledge:

- In-depth knowledge (PhD level) in ecohydrology (PhD level) with good
  knowledge in climate data processing or of atmospheric physics with
  general knowledge of ecology or ecohydrology or ecophysiology.

- Good analysis skills.

Know-how:

- Participation in project team meetings and production of project
  deliverables

- Good writing skills

- Proficiency in oral and written presentation techniques

- Fluent in scientific English.

Soft skills:

- Communicate and manage relations with internal and external contacts

- Scientific rigor

- Ability to work as part of a team

- Adaptability to work in tropical field environments

- Demonstrate conscientiousness and scientific integrity.

The post doc will be based on the Northern campus of the University of
la Réunion at the UMR PVBMT, on the Northern campus, in Saint-Denis and
will be interacted with colleagues from the Observatory of the critical
zone of Réunion (OZC-R) and from the Laboratory of the atmosphere and
cyclones (LaCY).

For questions and formal applications (curriculum vitæ including
contact information of two references, a one-page letter describing
your motivation), please send all the information in a single pdf
with the subject "HYDROPOP Postdoc application_your name" to both
Dr. Claudine Ah-Peng (claudine.ahpeng@univ-reunion.fr) and Pr. Joël
van Baelen (joel.van-baelen@univ-reunion.fr).

Deadline of
application: May 31st
2025 - 23:59 (Europe/Paris)

Dr. Claudine Ah-Peng
Université de La Réunion, UMR PVBMT
Pôle de protection des plantes
7 chemin de l'IRAT
97410 Saint-Pierre
La Réunion
T: +262 (0) 262 49 27 13
GSM: 06 92 68 79 93

Claudine Ahpeng <claudine.ahpeng@univ-reunion.fr>

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