Project Context and Goals. Nature-based solutions (NBS), including ecosystem protection and restoration, harness nature and its processes to address climate change and biodiversity loss. Blue carbon ecosystems (BCE), which in Canada include salt marshes, eelgrass meadows, and kelp forests have an important role to play in this regard, as they sequester carbon, while also enhancing biodiversity, food security, water quality, and shoreline protection. Canada intends to use NBS to help meet its national and international climate change mitigation and biodiversity protection commitments. Yet, despite the potential for NBS in Canada’s BCE, research gaps have hindered their inclusion in climate change, ocean management, and local marine stewardship decisions. Given the urgency of the challenges, new scientific approaches employing large-scale modelling, data synthesis, and decision science are needed.
The overall goal of this new phase of Blue Carbon Canada is to advance understanding of the value of Canada’s BCEs to inform priority regions for protection and restoration. Together our team will: 1) fill critical blue carbon science knowledge gaps; 2) assess the biodiversity co-benefits, broader ecosystem services, and economic value of Canada’s BCE; 3) quantify Canada’s protected ‘blue carbon assets’ and evaluate the threats to blue carbon, 4) conduct prioritizations for new spatial protections and restoration efforts to identify sites across Canada’s coastline that would optimize the benefits of these NBS, and 5) mobilize this new knowledge to inform BCE focused NBS in Canada. This work will be conducted collaboratively with our partners including World Wildlife Fund-Canada, Oceans North, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, and Parks Canada, and academics from across Canada.
The Opportunity. We are currently recruiting three Postdoctoral Research Fellows and five PhD students to join our dynamic Blue Carbon Canada team starting September 2025 to work with us to advance this new phase of our project. PDFs will be based at the University of Victoria; PhDs will be based at UVic, UBC, McGill University, or St. Francis Xavier depending on the project (detailed below).
Blue Carbon Canada Postdoctoral Research Fellow Positions
Three Postdoctoral Research Fellow (PDF) positions are available on the Blue Carbon Canada team. The PDFs will work closely together with each other and the broader Blue Carbon Canada team, and help to mentor related PhD work on the project, to advance interrelated components of the broader research program. The specific positions and timelines are:
PDF #1 – Beyond their potential to serve as nature-based solutions for climate change mitigation, Canada’s coastal BCEs have value due to their rich biological diversity and broader suite of ecosystem services. One 3-year (September 2025 – August 2028) PDF will be recruited to conduct a national scale assessment of the biodiversity co-benefits of Canada’s blue carbon ecosystems, to quantify their ecosystem services and economic valuation, and to co-lead the national analyses identifying areas of highest priority for nature-based solutions within these ecosystems (detailed below in PDF#3). This PDF will play a coordinating and lead role on the project. Mentorship Team: Profs. J.K. Baum, M. O’Connor, T. G. Martin, with support from WWF-Canada, DFO and other project partners. PDF #2 – One 2-year (September 2025 – August 2027) PDF will be recruited to map the extent and value of Canada’s protected blue carbon ecosystems and to assess the current and future threats that constrain Canada’s BCE nature-based solutions. Analyses for this PDF project will include assessing current protected areas and those proposed out to 2030 to identify gaps in protection of Canada’s BCEs, quantifying the value of Canada’s protected blue carbon assets, assessing current and future threats anthropogenic threats to Canada’s BCEs, and finally, drawing upon our projections of BCE distributions and related threats out to 2050 (from other project components), evaluate how these BCE assets might change by 2050 without targeted management interventions. Mentorship Team: Profs. J.K. Baum, M. O’Connor, with support from WWF-Canada, DFO and other project partners.
- PDF #3 – One 2 ½ year (January 2026 – June 2028) PDF will be recruited to first collate and synthesize new and updated data on carbon drawdown capacity of Canada’s blue carbon ecosystems and to then co-lead the national analyses for identifying areas of highest priority for nature-based solutions within Canada’s BCEs. The latter analyses will involve using spatial prioritization tools to identify suites of sites for new spatial protections and restoration efforts that would optimize NBS benefits under different scenarios to maximize different desired benefits, such as economic value, ecosystem services, and/or carbon storage. Scenarios will be co-developed with project partners. Mentorship Team: Profs. S. Knox, J.K. Baum, M. O’Connor, T.G. Martin, with support from WWF-Canada, DFO and other project partners.
Each of these positions will require initiative, advanced data synthesis skills, and effective leadership and teamwork skills for the PDF to succeed. We expect that each of these positions research will result in multiple peer-reviewed publication(s) and that the PDFs will have contribute to our broader national synthesis.
General Postdoctoral Responsibilities:
- Use multiple data types (e.g. carbon storage and sequestration, biodiversity, ecosystem services, economic value, protected areas, coastal land use etc.), methods and models to conduct national level analyses specific to the PDFs component of the overall project, with work completed in a timely manner so that it can be shared with and inform other project components;
- Collaborate with the Blue Carbon Canada team of scientists, postdocs, and partners, and provide guidance to PhD students on related components of their research for their priority regions;
- Employ excellent communication skills with colleagues, collaborators and mentors about all aspects of the projects (design, interpretation, challenges, solutions, timelines and progress);
- Be curious and engaged with the project and the work, willing to learn and grow;
- Actively support and contribute to our inclusive research environment;
- Publish results in peer-reviewed scientific journals and communicate them to project partners and at scientific conferences, in a timely fashion.
Postdoctoral Qualifications
Essential Qualifications
- A PhD in ecology, geography, biological oceanography, statistics, or other relevant discipline;
- Established publication record and record of completing projects in a timely manner;
- Demonstrated proficiency with statistical programming languages (R, Python or Matlab);
- Data synthesis experience, including collating, processing, modelling large and/or complex non-uniform data sets;
- Interpersonal and communication skills, the ability to work effectively and efficiently, both independently and collaboratively.
Desired Qualifications
- PDF #1: Experience with ecosystem service evaluation tools and/or economic valuation of ecosystem services an asset;
- PDF #2: Experience with ArcGIS or other geospatial data analytics. Technical spatial skills to manage and integrate data sets and models into statistical analyses and maps;
- PDF #3: Experience with blue carbon science (carbon sequestration and storage), including biogeochemical processes and related literature an asset;
- PDFs #1 and 3: Experience with conservation decision-science including spatial prioritization tools (eg. PrioritzR, Marxan);
- Expertise in the biology or ecology of at least one of the three blue carbon ecosystems an asset;
- Knowledge of, including in-depth understanding of the literature, on blue carbon and/or cumulative impacts (also known as multiple stressors).
Research Environment and Benefits: Competitive salary ($70K - $75K depending on experience) and full benefits package. Each position is initially for one year, and renewable for a second (or third) year as specified, subject to performance and available funding.
- Opportunities to present at national to international conferences.
- Dedicated professional mentorship and interaction with a multi-sectoral network of blue carbon practitioners and marine resource managers.
To apply for a PDF Position: Candidates should submit the following materials via email to Blue Carbon Canada Project Manager Kristina Tietjen at pm.bluecarboncanada@gmail.com in a single PDF document, with their last name in the file name:
§ a cover letter stating which PDF position(s) you are applying for and your motivation for doing so; explaining how you meet the specific qualifications for the position and how you will excel in the position; and evidence of your commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion;
§ a CV (max 4 pages);
§ 2 research publications including those relevant to the project;
§ names and contact details for two to three references.
Review of applications will begin May 7th and continue until the positions are filled. Applicants must be available to start positions 1 and 2 by September 2025 and position 3 by January 2026.
Blue Carbon Canada PhD Student Positions
PhD Positions: The following PhD positions are available, all with a September 2025 start date:
PhD # 1 – Improving greenhouse gas emissions accounting for salt marshes through new field data and modelling. Supervisors: Profs. Graham Clark (St. FX) and Sara Knox. (McGill University).
Like other BCEs, most salt marshes are characterized by low to negligible rates of CH4 and N2O emissions. Some marshes, however, emit CH4 and N2O, but the factors controlling these emissions, particularly the role of salinity, remain unclear. This not only creates uncertainty about the carbon drawdown capacity of Canada’s salt marshes but also about the effects of potential nature-based solutions, such as marsh restoration, remediation, and protection, on GHG budgets. Using existing chamber measurement records, supplemented with targeted new chamber CH4 and N2O measurements, and a new coastal eddy covariance tower network in B.C. and Atlantic Canada, the PhD student will compare GHG fluxes and drivers of C uptake across marshes on Canada’s east and west coasts. They will also leverage a widely used biogeochemical model (PEPRMT-Tidal) to model current and future GHG balance of these marshes. This research will refine salt marsh GHG budget estimates and advance understanding of the drivers of salt marsh C uptake and GHG dynamics, knowledge that is required to accurately quantify salt marsh ecosystem services and to identify salt marsh areas best suited to nature-based solutions.
Relevant Skills:
§ Ability to work well in a team, both in the field and in the lab;
§ Attention to detail, and meticulous work style, as evidenced by previous work;
§ Experience with programming and/or processed-based modeling, or desire to learn how;
§ Experience with statistical analysis, or a desire to learn;
§ Prior experience working with Eddy Covariance data is not necessary but will be considered an asset.
PhDs # 2 – 5 will each have a focal priority region in Canada, within which they will assess the carbon, biodiversity, and broader ecosystem services and economic values of the coastal blue carbon ecosystems, and then conduct spatial prioritization assessments to prioritize new spatial protections and ecosystem restoration to maximize BCE nature-based solutions within their region. Prioritization scenarios will be co-developed with project partners and other stakeholders, and rightsholders in the region, to help shape realistic scenarios based on the values of these solutions-seekers and the perceived feasibility of the management intervention. PhDs will work closely with their formal mentorship team as well as with the Postdoctoral Research Fellows on the team, to ensure coordination and sharing of data, knowledge, and skills. Specific projects and supervisors are as follows:
PhD # 2 – Nature-based solutions in B.C.’s Northern Bioregion’s (Great Bear Sea) blue carbon ecosystems: valuations and prioritizations. Supervisors: Profs. Tara Martin (UBC) and Julia Baum (UVic).
PhD # 3 – Nature-based solutions in the Salish Sea’s blue carbon ecosystems: valuations and prioritizations. Supervisors: Profs. Tara Martin (UBC), Mary O’Connor (UBC), Julia Baum (UVic).
PhD # 4 – Nature-based solutions in James Bay’s blue carbon ecosystems: valuations and prioritizations. Supervisors: Profs. Mary O’Connor (UBC) and Zou Zou Kuzyk (U. Manitoba).
PhD # 5 – Nature-based solutions in the blue carbon ecosystems of the Scotian Shelf and Bay of Fundy: valuations and prioritizations. Supervisors: Prof. Julia Baum (UVic), Dr. Kristina Boerder, Dr. Susanna Fuller, Dr. Kira Krumhansl.
Relevant Skills:
§ Ability to work well in a team, both in the lab, with project partners and in workshops with rightsholders and stakeholders;
§ Attention to detail, and meticulous work style, as evidenced by previous work;
§ Experience with programming, such as processed-based modeling, spatial analyses and conservation decision prioritization tools, or a commitment to learn how;
§ Experience with statistical analysis, or a commitment to learn how;
§ Experience with data synthesis (ideally across different types of data);
§ Experience or familiarity with biodiversity science and/or ecosystem services tools and literature;
§ Ability and skillset to meet deadlines, manage timelines and produce agreed upon research products.
Research Environment and Benefits: Join a supportive and stimulating research environment and collaborate with a team of leading academics and government partners working across Canada’s blue carbon ecosystems to advance your research skills and learn how research is translated into management and policy decisions.
Each PhD student will have a home research lab with one of the supervisors listed above and will also be co-supervised and mentored by other academic and non-academic project members. All students will be part of our supportive, stimulating Blue Carbon Canada research team, which meets weekly (hybrid) for overall project updates and bi-weekly for journal club. PhD students will be trained in data synthesis, decision science and transdisciplinary research skills, all of which are in demand for ocean and climate science careers. Each student will have opportunities to present their research at regional to national conferences, and will receive dedicated supervision and interaction with a multi-sectoral network of blue carbon practitioners and marine resource managers.
We encourage individuals from diverse backgrounds to apply, as we strive to provide an inclusive and supportive environment where all scholars can thrive. Positions are open to Canadian and international students. PhD students will be funded at CDN$35,000/yr for a minimum of three years; outcome of funding application is still pending and will be confirmed before position start. Note that applicants should be competitive for graduate scholarships and will be expected to apply for an NSERC graduate scholarship as well as scholarships at university where they will be based.
To apply for a PhD position: Candidates should submit the following materials via email to Blue Carbon Canada Project Manager Kristina Tietjen at pm.bluecarboncanada@gmail.com in a single PDF document, with their last name in the file name:
§ a cover letter stating which PhD position(s) you are applying for (ranking your preference if applying for more than one), explaining your motivation for undertaking a PhD and why you would excel in this particular position, how you meet the specific qualifications for the position, and evidence of your commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion;
§ a CV (max 3 pages);
§ up to 2 research publications including those relevant to the project;
§ names and contact details for two to three references.
Review of applications will begin May 7th and continue until the positions are filled. Applicants must be available to start their PhD in September 2025. If selected will need to apply to the relevant university department.
