Postdoctoral Researcher, NERC Amazonia+10

About Us

We are a world-class visitor attraction and leading science research centre. We use the Museum's unique collections and our unrivalled expertise to tackle the biggest challenges facing the world today. We care for more than 80 million objects spanning billions of years and welcome more than five million visitors annually and 16 million visits to our website.

Today the Museum is more relevant and influential than ever. By attracting people from a range of backgrounds to work for us, we can continue to look at the world with fresh eyes and find new ways of doing things.

We employ 1100 staff in a variety of roles, all united by our vision of a future where people and planet thrive. We need everyone to have the passion and drive to help us with our mission to create advocates for our planet and inspire millions to care about the natural world.

Diversity and inclusion matter to us.

Our vision is of a future where both people and the planet thrive. Diversity is one of our core values and we strive to build a workplace where everyone feels a sense of belonging. All new staff who join us learn about the importance of diversity and inclusion to the Museum and how to contribute to creating an inclusive environment.

We know we have more to do, but we are committed to ensuring that everyone who works at the Museum feels they can thrive and feel valued and respected.

About the role

We are looking for a post-doctoral level scientist with analytical and modelling skills to work with an interdisciplinary, international team working the upper Rio Negro region of Amazonian Brazil in the project “Tsiino Hiiwida”. We expect the appointee to integrate data coming from field and museum studies and to be the lead analytical scientist in bringing these data together in the context of exploration of this biodiversity-rich region.

You will join an exciting international team from the UK (NHM) and Amazonia to investigate and document the plant and fungal diversity of the upper Rio Negro (Amazonas State, Brazil). The team will work with indigenous communities and local institutions to explore this rich and relatively poorly-known region of Amazonia, where both Alfred Russel Wallace and Richard Spruce collected in the 19th century.

The candidate will be expected to work with both UK and Brazilian colleagues, speak fluent English and Brazilian Portuguese and be familiar with field work in the tropics. We also expect the candidate to interact with other UK-funded projects in the Amazonia+10 programme, sharing methods and, if possible, field work opportunities.

The appointee will be based at and employed by the Museum, with field work opportunities in the Brazilian Amazon.

About you

You will have a PhD with thesis related to biodiversity in plants and/or fungi (especially bryophytes) in tropical environments, preferably in South America, and also have a scientific background that includes field-based research and macroecological modelling skills, including R coding experience. The person will possess broad experience working with varied international teams across different research projects, strong publications record in peer reviewed journals, and a proven ability to collate, analyse and present complex datasets. You must be a self-starter, able to contribute to the vision and direction of the project as part of the team and demonstrate an ambition and aspiration in growing their research career. You must be independent, motivated and able to make decisions about the direction of research. Ideally you have experience working in the tropics, preferably in Brazil, experience working with museum collections of plant and/or fungal taxa, and be able to communicate with a variety of audiences in English and Portuguese (preferably Brazilian Portuguese).

Thriving at the Museum: the way we work

We are proud to work at the Museum and have identified the qualities we all need to embody to reach our shared ambition. This sits alongside the Museum’s values and forms the framework for the way we work. Find out more here.

What we offer

• 27.5 days holiday plus 8 bank holidays (full time equivalent)
• Generous defined contribution Natural History Museum Pension Scheme (employer contribution 4 - 10%)
• Season ticket, bicycle and rental loan
• Life insurance
• Free admission to our exhibitions and many other paid exhibitions at museums, galleries and institutions across London and the UK.
• Staff discount at our Museum shops and cafes
• We offer a wide variety of training initiatives and opportunities to build skills. Investing in staff development is important to us, and we are ambitious about helping staff to grow and fulfil their potential.
• Affordable membership to the Civil Service Sports Council which offers a range of benefits including an extensive list of special offers and reduced entry fees at a selection of cinema chains, theme parks, theatres, retailers and supermarkets. It also provides entry to up to 300 English Heritage sites and other national treasures. For more details, visit https://www.cssc.co.uk
• Membership to our Sports and Social Association (for a small fee), which includes access to our in-house gym and clubs such as football, softball, table tennis and tennis and classes in Middle Eastern dance, yoga and Tai Chi

Hybrid working

We are working towards a vision where both people and planet thrive, and nothing gives a greater connection with this, than seeing first-hand, the visitors, scientific research and collections that all of our work is inspired by and working side by side with the teams delivering the visitor experience and events. We also recognise the benefits and flexibility that hybrid working brings. We operate a hybrid working model that requires regular, weekly attendance for this role, with the precise pattern of days on site and worked from home to be agreed with your manager.

How to apply

If this sounds like you, please apply via the 'Apply' button above.