The following position has been advertised elsewhere, but not on allstat.
This version has an extended deadline. Previous applicants are still being
considered. The following web pages may be useful background.
http://www.ceh.ac.uk/ :CEH
http://www.nwl.ac.uk/ih/ :CEH Wallingford
CEH is one of the Centres and Surveys of the Natural Environment Research
Council, and CEH Wallingford was formerly known as the Institute of
Hydrology.
Please respond by post or phone, quoting the reference number CEH HQ 20, to:
Personnel Section, CEH Wallingford, Maclean Building, Crowmarsh Gifford,
Wallingford, Oxfordshire, OX10 8BB
Tel: (01491) 838800
Closing date for the receipt of completed applications is 18 August 2000.
ADVERT
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CENTRE FOR ECOLOGY AND HYDROLOGY
The Centre for Ecology and Hydrology carries out large-scale and long-term
research in the terrestrial and freshwater sciences to support a broad user
community. We address key environmental issues through integrated
monitoring, process studies and predictive modelling, and the development of
essential infrastructure and facilities. CEH has created a unique
opportunity for prime movers to develop their postdoctoral careers through
fully funded Research Fellowships, of which the following is one.
STATISTICIAN/ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENTIST WALLINGFORD, OXFORDSHIRE
You will be required to study trends in hydrological and meteorological
variables, principally trends in their extremes. Important elements of the
research are to develop more powerful trend detection methods based on the
analysis of extremes defined as "peaks over a threshold", and to advance
methods for identifying trends regionally. An international perspective and
experience of using the S-PLUS language would be an advantage.
(CEH HQ 20)
The starting salary for this post is from £17,000 per annum (currently under
review), in addition NERC offer a non-contributory pension scheme.
The appointment will be for a fixed term of 3 years, there may be a
possibility of subsequent extensions or conversion to open-ended status. A
start date between now and October is acceptable.
For further details and an application form, please contact (by post or
phone, quoting the reference number CEH HQ 20):
Personnel Section, CEH Wallingford, Maclean Building, Crowmarsh Gifford,
Wallingford, Oxfordshire, OX10 8BB
Tel: (01491) 838800
Closing date for the receipt of completed applications is 18 August 2000.
The Council has an equal opportunities policy and welcomes applications from
all sections of the community. People with disabilities and those from
ethnic minorities are currently under-represented and their applications are
particularly welcome. Many parts of NERC operate a guaranteed interview
scheme for suitable disabled applicants.
FURTHER DETAILS
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STATISTICIAN/ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENTIST
(3 year fixed-term appointment)
CEH Research Fellow in Trend detection in extreme rainfalls
Further Particulars
The post is based in the Risks and Hydrological Extremes Division at CEH
Wallingford. The research will primarily focus on trend detection in UK
extreme rainfalls. Depending on progress, the study may extend into the
analysis of trends in UK floods or of trends in European extreme rainfalls.
The principal objective is to advance methods for trend detection in data
series of extreme values. The research will build on work on trend
detection in floods undertaken as part of the Flood Estimation Handbook
programme (e.g. Robson et al., 1998), in addition to reviewing the wider
literature with particular reference to recent statistical developments.
Trends in extreme values at a particular site may be less significant than
they at first appear. By chance, a gauge may have experienced few extreme
rainfalls in one period, and many more in another period. There is
considerable natural variability in climate, both temporally and spatially.
Several extreme storms may be experienced at one site, while none are
observed at another. Site conditions, measurement practice, or quality
control of data may vary over the period of record, leading to (gradual)
trends or (abrupt) step-changes.
There is considerable scientific and lay interest in whether extreme
rainfalls are occurring more frequently than previously. It is helpful to
pool data from a number of sites in a region so that more authoritative
statements can be made about the detection of climate trends. A particular
challenge of the research will be to develop a spatially focused approach to
trend detection, to fill the ground between single-site and national
analyses of data.
Extremes of environmental variables are typically analysed by abstracting
either all peaks above a set threshold, or by focusing attention on the
largest value observed in each year. The research will evaluate
(theoretically and empirically) the relative power or peaks-over-threshold
and annual maximum approaches to identifying trend and step-change.
It is anticipated that some use will be made of permutation methods (e.g.
permuting the years of record from which data are drawn into the analysis)
in exploring regional trends. Another approach may be to seek to use
(non-extreme) co-variate information to smooth out spatial non-stationarity
so that temporal non-stationarity is the better revealed.
The Research Fellow will be encouraged to co-operate with specific
University researchers who are active in developing statistical methods for
trend detection or extreme value analysis, and with climatologists at
Wallingford and elsewhere.
It is anticipated that interviews for the fellowship will be held at CEH
Wallingford.
ROBSON, A.J., JONES, T.K., REED, D.W., BAYLISS, A.C. 1998. A study of
national trend and variation in UK floods. Int. Journ. Climatology, 18,
165-182.
SALARY
>From £17,000.00 per annum (currently under review) plus a non-contributory
pension scheme.
THE CLOSING DATE FOR COMPLETED APPLICATIONS IS 18 August 2000
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