Earth System Modeller - Carbon Cycle

British Antarctic Survey; Cambridge; On-site; GBP 41,000 - 46,000; Full time

Job summary

British Antarctic Survey is seeking an Earth System Modeller specializing in the carbon cycle. You will enhance data interpretations using Earth System Models while collaborating on significant international projects. This role offers flexibility, excellent benefits, and the opportunity to work in a prestigious research environment.

Benefits

30 days annual leave plus bank holidays

Excellent civil service pension

Access to employee assistance programme

Flexible working opportunities

Cycle to work scheme

Qualifications

• PhD required in a related field.
• Experience with paleoclimate datasets and climate models.
• Strong mathematical and analytical skills expected.

Responsibilities

• Install and test earth system models on HPC.
• Perform experiments on orbital-scale variability.
• Analyze ensemble data against ice core data.

Skills

Experience with paleoclimate datasets

Comfortable with math

Experience running climate models

Education

PhD in Earth Science

Tools

cGENIE

Job description

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British Antarctic Survey provided pay range

This range is provided by British Antarctic Survey. Your actual pay will be based on your skills and experience — talk with your recruiter to learn more.

Base pay range

£41,344 - £45,479 the band minimum is the normal starting pay for those new to a role. In exceptional circumstances, when relevant skills and experience can be identified, a higher starting salary may be considered.

We will give full consideration to requests for flexible and part time working, such as reduced hours, compressed hours or job sharing. We also offer hybrid working and recognise the many benefits this brings. The nature of the role will determine if flexible and hybrid working options are possible.

Interview date July 2025

British Antarctic Survey (BAS) is looking for an exceptional Earth System Modeller - Carbon Cycle to join Ice Dynamics and Palaeoclimate Team. BAS delivers and enables world-leading interdisciplinary research in the Polar Regions. We employ experts from many different professions to carry out our Science as well as keep the lights on, feed the research and support teams and keep everyone safe!

Working at BAS is rewarding. Our skilled science, operational and support staff based in Cambridge, Antarctica and the Arctic, work together to deliver research that uses the Polar Regions to advance our understanding of Earth as a sustainable planet. Through our extensive logistic capability and know how BAS facilitates access for the British and international science community to the UK polar research operation. Numerous national and international collaborations, combined with an excellent infrastructure help sustain a world leading position for the UK in Antarctic affairs. British Antarctic Survey is a component of the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), which is part of UK Research and Innovation www.ukri.org

As a valued member of our team, you’ll be eligible for the following benefits:

• 30 days annual leave plus bank holidays and 2.5 privilege days
• Excellent civil service pension (with 26% or more employer contribution, depending on your band)
• 24 hours/365 days access to employee assistance programme (EAP – including support with physical, mental, social, health and financial issues)
• Flexible and family friendly working opportunities
• Cycle to work scheme
• Access to discounted shopping on a range of retail, leisure and lifestyle categories and much more.

You’ll be joining our team of ice core scientists at BAS and University of Cambridge working with collaborators all around the world on two major international ice core projects and modelling efforts. In particular, the group is playing several roles in the Beyond EPICA-Oldest Ice Core project (BE-OIC) is a collaborative European effort to obtain a continuous ice core record of climate and carbon cycle changes across the mid-Pleistocene. The project recently completed the drilling of a new deep Antarctic ice core that holds ice from up to 1.2 million years before present. Our role in the project is to contribute our expertise in high-resolution, continuous ice core gas analysis and make the first interpretations of the data with simple box models.

This is an opportunity to significantly enhance those first interpretations with Earth System Models. You will have the chance to work closely with scientists collecting the first greenhouse data on the changes in CO2, CH4, and N2O, including the opportunity to help in the data collection. At BAS, you will be mentored by Dr. Thomas Bauska (expertise in ice core data) and Dr. Xu Zhang (expertise in climate modelling and integrated in the Earth System Modelling Team, led by Dr. Louise Sime.

In addition to Beyond EPICA, the team are currently working on:

• Fate, Emissions and Transport of CH4 (FETCH4) is a global project supported by Schmidt Futures that aims to improve our understanding of methane levels in the atmosphere in the past, present and future. Our role is to help collect and analyse a new Greenland ice core to produce a detailed record over last ~150 years.
• REWIND is a new deep ice core drilling project on the Antarctic Peninsula, aiming to recover a 700-metre core spanning the past 20,000 years. The project seeks to reconstruct past sea ice extent, atmospheric circulation, and wind patterns to better understand their roles in the uptake and release of CO₂ from the Southern Ocean. These environmental records will be directly compared with a new high-resolution CO₂ dataset from the same core.

You’ll be joining a world-leading interdisciplinary research organisation, that is committed to recruiting talented people like you, progressing your career and giving you the support, you need to thrive at BAS.

Some of your main responsibilities will include:

• Install and test an earth system model of intermediate complexity on the BAS HPC.
• Perform ensemble experiments of orbital-scale variability using a simple, efficient earth system model (i.e. with an energy balance atmospheric) and focus on the last glacial cycle. Within this large ensemble perform a smaller subset of “snapshot” experiments using a dynamic atmosphere.
• Analyse the ensemble by comparing to ice core data of atmospheric CO2, 13C-CO2, mean ocean temperature and other key carbon cycle data constraints from marine and terrestrial records. Perform feedback analysis on the data-constrained model results.

Please download job description for more details.

For the role of PDRA: Earth System Modeller, we are looking for somebody who has:

• PhD in Earth Science, Physics, Chemistry, or related Natural Science fields
• Experience working with paleoclimate datasets and running climate/carbon cycle models
• Comfortable with math, physics and chemistry that are relevant to Earth System Modelling
• Experience working with cGENIE

Please download job description for more details.

If we’ve just described you, we’d love to hear from you. Apply now at bas.ac.uk/vacancies.

What experiences can we offer you?

At BAS we believe everyone plays a vital role, is unique and valued, therefore, we embrace diversity as well as equality of opportunity and are committed to creating an inclusive and welcoming working environment where everyone’s unique perspectives are valued.

Different perspectives and collaborative working help us achieve our best work and come together to form a high performing team which makes positive changes in the business. That’s the power of every individual. Our cultural values are built on mutual respect, inclusion, commitment and excellence.

If you are looking for an opportunity to work with world class and amazing people in one of the most unique places in the world, then British Antarctic Survey could be for you.

If you require the job information in an alternative format (i.e. email, audio or video), or would like any further information or support, please do not hesitate to get in touch at [e-mail] or alternatively you can call us on 01223 221508.

Seniority level

• Seniority level

  Mid-Senior level

Employment type

• Employment type

  Full-time

Job function

• Job function

  Science

• Industries

  Research Services

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