The Global Carbon Project (GCP)
Executive Officer Position

International Project Office
National Institute for Environmental Studies
16-2 Onogawa
Tsukuba, Japan 305-8506
Phone: 81-29-850-2672; Fax: 81-29-850-2960
Web: www.globalcarbonproject.org

July 2005
Job Advertisement
EXECUTIVE OFFICER
US$70,000 - $100,000 per year

The Global Carbon Project (GCP) is a joint program of the IHDP, IGBP, WCRP, and DIVERSITAS under their Earth System Science Partnership.  The GCP has two International Project Offices (IPO): one in Canberra, Australia and one in Tsukuba, Japan.

The GCP is seeking to appoint a highly motivated and independent person as Executive Officer (director) of its International Project Office in Tsukuba, Japan at the National Institute for Environmental Studies (NIES). The successful candidate will work with the GCP Science Steering Committee, its three co-chairs, and the Executive Officer of the other GCP International Project Office in Canberra, Australia to implement the science framework of the GCP.

We are seeking a person with excellent working knowledge of the policy-relevant scientific objectives of the GCP and a keen interest in devising methods to integrate social and policy sciences into the understanding of the carbon-climate system as a coupled human/natural system. The Tsukuba IPO is especially focused on fostering and coordinating research related to integrating the human and natural dimensions of the global carbon cycle and global/regional/urban carbon management. The Science Framework of the Global Carbon Project is available on the web, as are a number of publications, conference proceedings, and presentations that provide more background information.

Post- graduate qualifications (preferably a PhD) are desirable.  The appointee will have demonstrated high organizational, communication and interpersonal skills; experience in drafting a diverse range of scientific documents; ability to communicate in English effectively with groups of scientists of diverse disciplinary, national, and cultural backgrounds; and the flexibility and willingness to undertake extensive, long-distance overseas travel.

This appointment at the National Institute for Environmental Studies, Tsukuba (Japan), is for a fixed term of two years, with the possibility of an extension up to five years. The successful candidate will be invited to commence the job as early as February 2006.

Closing date for applications: 1 October 2005

Please, send your application by email, including descriptions of skills, qualifications and work achievements, and contact details of three referees, to Ms. Yukako Ojima ojima.yukako@nies.go.jp).

Further information on the position and the GCP is available from Penelope Canan (penelope.canan@nies.go.jp), Pep Canadell [pep.canadell@csiro.au], or by viewing the GCP homepage, http://www.globalcarbonproject.org.  Other useful information on Tsukuba and the host Institution can be view at: NIES: http://www.nies.go.jp/index.html; Housing: http://www.jistec.or.jp/house/; Tsukuba city: http://www.info-tsukuba.org/english

Duty Statement

The GCP-Tsukuba Executive Officer has administrative and scientific responsibility for a small, dynamic international office coordinating activities of the GCP research programme. The successful applicant will also work in coordination with the GCP international office in Australia and the European, PR China, and American nodes. The appointee will need to demonstrate a strong research background as he/she will be involved in the planning and development of research and synthesis documents.

1. Working under the broad direction of the SSC, duties include the following: Manage the GCP Project Office in Tsukuba and its staff on a day-to-day basis.
   
2. Develop and maintain links with a number of projects in IGBP, IHDP, WCRP, DIVERSITAS and other international and national agencies and programmes
   
3. Assist the SSC to implement the science framework with a particular focus on activities related to the integration of the natural and human dimensions of the carbon cycle and urban and regional carbon management
   
4. Organize conferences, meetings and workshops in support of the GCP and   assist in drafting scientific reports and syntheses
   
5. Act as a communication node for the international GCP community.
   
6. Work in close collaboration and coordination with the Australian GCP IPO   executive officer and those of sister joint programs under the Earth System   Science Partnership of the sponsor organizations.
   
7. Provide project advocacy, promotion and publicity.
   
8. Raise funds for GCP activities.
   
9. Assist the Chairs and SSC in providing policy advice to appropriate agencies.
   
10. Support an examination of integrated carbon-climate-human cycle models.

Selection Criteria

Essential

1. Postgraduate qualifications (preferably a Ph.D. or equivalent) in social sciences, ecology, environmental sciences, oceanography, atmospheric sciences or a related discipline, together with relevant experience; or an equivalent combination of experience and education/training.
   
2. Education or working experience that bridges social and natural sciences (e.g., integrative assessment modeling; science-policy interactions; institutional dimensions; environmental economics).
   
3. Proven management experience within research programs.
   
4. Ability to manage a small international science coordinating office, with an emphasis on organizational, communication and interpersonal skills.
   
5. Experience in drafting a diverse range of documents - from correspondence to complex scientific reports.
   
6. Strong interest in and excellent working knowledge of the main scientific issues of the GCP.
   
7. A sound working knowledge of the English language.
   
8. Flexibility and willingness to undertake extensive, long-distance overseas travel.
   
9. Demonstrated ability to communicate effectively with groups of scientists of diverse disciplinary, national and cultural backgrounds.
   

Highly Desirable

1. Previous experience in raising funds for scientific activities.
   
2. Experience in the organization of international meetings and workshops.
   
3. Experience in working with international science organizations.

The Global Carbon Project

Summary

The Global Carbon Project (GCP) was established by the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP), the International Human Dimensions Program (IHDP), and the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP) in 2001. The GCP's goal is to develop a complete picture of the global carbon cycle, including both its biophysical and human dimensions together with the interactions and feedbacks between them. The three sciences themes of the GCP are:

1. Patterns and Variability: the current geographical and temporal distributions of the major stores and fluxes in the global carbon cycle;
   
2. Processes, Controls and Interactions: the underlying mechanisms and feedbacks that control the dynamics of the global carbon cycle, including interactions with human activities;
   
3. Carbon Management: the dynamics of the carbon-climate-human system into the future, andpoints of intervention and windows of opportunity that exist for human societies to manage this system?

The science goals will be achieved by the following implementation strategies:

• To develop a research framework for integration of the biogeochemical, biophysical and human components of the global carbon cycle, including the development of data-model fusion schemes, and design of cost effective observational and research networks.
  
• To synthesize current understanding of the global C cycle and provide rapid feedback to the research and policy communities, and general public.
  
• To develop tools and conceptual frameworks to couple the biophysical and human dimensions of the carbon cycle.
  
• To provide a global coordinating platform for regional/national carbon programs to improve observation network design, data standards, information and tools transfer, and timing of campaigns and process-based experiments.
  
• To strengthen the broad carbon research programs of nations and regions, and those of more disciplinary projects in IGBP, IHDP, WCRP, DIVERSITAS and operational observing programs (IGCO, GTOS)
  through better coordination, articulation of goals, and development of conceptual frameworks.
  
• To develop a small number of new research initiatives that are feasible within a 3-5 year time framework on difficult and highly interdisciplinary problems of the carbon cycle and carbon management at multiple scales (urban, regional, global).
  
• To foster new carbon research in regions that will provide better constraints of continental and global carbon budgets through promoting partnerships between institutions and exchange visits.

Science Steering Committee:
Co-chairs: Michael Raupach, Oran Young, Robert Dickinson.
Michael Apps, Chen-Tung Arthur Chen, Mingkui Cao, Philippe Ciais, Christopher Field, Patricia Romero Lankao, Nebojsa Nakicenovic, Corinne Le Qu*r*, Anand Patwardhan, Christopher Sabine, Riccardo Valentini, Yoshiki Yamagata.

Executive Directors: Pep Canadell (Australia); Penelope Canan (Japan)

Further information can be found at http://www.globalcarbonproject.org.