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I have been asked to forward this to the list. Please reply to the details given and not to me. The World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), based in Nairobi, Kenya, conducts agroforestry research and development with the goal of improving food and nutritional security, livelihoods, and environmental resilience in developing countries. ICRAF works with a wide range of partners in the public and private sectors and is one of the Future Harvest centers of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). ICRAF has a long history of research on agroforestry and natural resource management interventions for sustainable soil management. To help better target agroforestry interventions, ICRAF is conducting innovative research on new methods for diagnostic surveillance of soil degradation based on analysis of satellite imagery at multiple scales, rapid soil analysis using near-infrared spectroscopy, and application of new statistical tools for analyzing multilevel and multivariate data. ICRAF is situated in its own campus on the outskirts of Nairobi with well-equipped office, internet and laboratory facilities. ICRAF, in partnership with Biomathematics and Statistics Scotland (BioSS), requires a highly competent biometrician to assist with development of statistical approaches to analysis of complex environmental data sets. The Position: The position is based in Nairobi at ICRAF Headquarters, but involves extensive visits to BioSS in Scotland for consultations, and occasional travel to field sites in Africa. The incumbent will work with a multinational team of landscape ecologists, soil scientists and biometricians on a project to develop and test new approaches for land degradation surveillance. The incumbent will also work with senior scientists on statistical analysis of data libraries of visible-near-infrared reflectance spectra collected from satellite and laboratory-based sensors. Through collaborative projects, ICRAF has the largest soil spectral libraries in the world. These include a spectral library with more than 50 soil physical, chemical and mineralological attribute data for 4200 diverse soils from the United States and a global library of 900 reference soil profiles associated with the digital Soil Map of the World. Large georeferenced spectral libraries have been acquired in Eastern Africa, and acquisition is starting in West Africa. The project is aiming to develop expert systems for estimating soil funtional attributes from soil spectral libraries and implement large area soil surveillance systems in Africa. Futher details of the work is available at: http://www.worldagroforestrycentre.org/sites/program1/specweb/home.htm. Specific duties will include: · Development of methods for statistical analysis of soil spectral libraries, including development of optimal data pre-treatments, spectral classification and calibration procedures; · Design and statistical analysis of hierarchical data sets involving spectral measurements, including satellite data at multiple scales, and field and laboratory observations; · Capacity building of staff in national programmes, including instruction of students and national staff in statistical analysis of soil spectral data and preparation of training courses and manuals; and · Assist with statistical design and analysis problems in other ICRAF projects where required. Qualifications: · MSc in Biometrics or Mathematics; · Good knowledge of a wide range of statistical techniques, including multivariate methods, pattern recognition and classification, taxonomic classification approaches, clustering methods including classification and regression trees, and mixed effects modelling. Chemometrics experience a distinct advantage; · Highly innovative in researching and testing new statistical approaches (e.g. wavelets for spectral data reduction); · Programming skills for data manipulation and statistical analysis; · Fluent in English with good technical writing skills; and · Ability to work with multinational multidisciplinary teams. Terms of offer: ICRAF offers a competitive salary and benefits package. The contract is for an initial period of one year with possibility of extension based on mutual agreement and availability of funds. Applicants are invited to send a cover letter illustrating their suitability for the above position against the listed qualifications/competencies/skills and a detailed curriculum vitae, with names and addresses of three referees (including telephone, fax numbers and email address). All correspondence should be addressed to the Human Resources Unit, World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), P.O. Box 30677, Nairobi, Kenya; email: [log in to unmask] Applications will be considered until June 30th, 2004. Only short-listed applicants will be contacted. ICRAF offers a collegial and gender-sensitive working environment and believes that staff diversity promotes excellence, and strongly encourages applications from women.