The Canadian Center for Climate Change and Adaptation (CCCCA) at the University of Prince Edward Island (UPEI) is seeking one Postdoctoral Research Associate to work on several research projects related to transformative sustainable agriculture.

The annual salary for this position is $50,000 (+benefits).

The CCCCA is a 45,000 square-foot research facility located in the community of St. Peter’s Bay, PEI. The facility and the surrounding lands serve as living laboratories, providing unlimited access to nearby wetlands, forests, and coastal habitats. The CCCCA is a world-leading research and teaching center in understanding and adapting to climate change impacts.

Term: June 15, 2026, to July 31, 2028

The responsibilities of this position will include:

•    Lead and manage multidisciplinary research projects in precision agriculture, climate-smart agriculture, sustainable soil management, hydrological modeling, irrigation optimization, remote sensing, GIS-based environmental analysis, and climate adaptation, with a strong focus on agricultural resilience in Atlantic Canada. 
•    Design and conduct research addressing climate change impacts on agricultural production systems, including sustainable water management, evapotranspiration modeling, supplemental irrigation scheduling, soil-water dynamics, greenhouse gas assessment, carbon accounting, biodiversity conservation, and environmental sustainability. 
•    Plan, execute, and supervise field experiments, sensor deployment, calibration, maintenance, and monitoring activities, including soil moisture sensors, climatic stations, field instrumentation, and environmental data acquisition systems for agricultural research applications. 
•    Lead field data collection, environmental sampling, laboratory analysis coordination, data preprocessing, quality assurance, and interpretation of large-scale datasets collected across diverse agroecosystems in Atlantic Canada. 
•    Develop and implement GIS- and remote sensing-based solutions for agricultural land-use assessment, land cover change analysis, precision resource management, environmental monitoring, and climate risk assessment. 
•    Conduct carbon footprint assessment, climate mitigation analysis, and sustainability performance evaluation for agricultural systems, drawing from practical teaching and applied experience in carbon accounting and emissions reporting. 
•    Develop innovative decision-support tools, web-based platforms, predictive models, and intelligent expert systems to support sustainable agricultural management, irrigation scheduling, crop productivity forecasting, drought resilience, and climate adaptation planning. 
•    Support experiential learning through lectures, workshops, seminars, laboratory demonstrations, field training, and hands-on mentoring in climate change, sustainable agriculture, hydrology, carbon accounting, environmental modeling, GIS, and precision agriculture. 
•    Prepare and publish high-impact scientific outputs, including peer-reviewed journal articles, conference papers, technical reports, policy briefs, project deliverables, and competitive research funding proposals.

The successful candidate for this position should meet the following criteria:

•    Holds a PhD in Environmental Sciences, with research focused on supplemental irrigation, decision-support systems, climate change, and sustainable agricultural water management. 
•    Track record of publishing peer-reviewed journal articles in high-impact journals in the areas of precision irrigation, evapotranspiration modeling, potato crop coefficient prediction, soil water characteristic curves, drought forecasting, streamflow forecasting, climate-smart agriculture, and environmental modeling. 
•    Experience in remote sensing and GIS-based data analysis, field mapping, soil classification, environmental data collection, hydrological modeling, and spatial database development using tools such as ArcGIS, Microsoft Excel, statistical modeling platforms, and advanced computational methods. 
•    Has experience with scientific and analytical tools for large dataset handling, model calibration, sensitivity and uncertainty analysis, statistical modeling, data visualization, mapping, and computational research workflows. 
•    Experienced in collecting, processing, and analyzing soil, water, climate, crops, runoff, leachate, emissions, and sensor-based field data from both laboratory and field environments. 
•    Offers a strong combination of research, applied field experience, stakeholder engagement, project coordination, student mentorship, and practical agricultural engineering skills.

APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS:

Please submit a cover letter electronically, quoting the competition number, a resume, and a reference list via the link below, to be received no later than the closing date.

If you are unable to apply online, you can drop off your resume at the Human Resources Department, McDougall Hall, Suite 213, University of Prince Edward Island, 550 University Avenue, Charlottetown, PEI C1A 4P3, or fax it to 902-894-2895.

UPEI is committed to equity, diversity, inclusion, and reconciliation and believes in providing a positive learning and working environment where every person feels empowered to contribute. 

UPEI is committed to the principle of equity in employment and encourages applications from underrepresented groups, including women, Indigenous peoples, visible minorities, persons with disabilities, persons of any sexual orientation or gender identity, and others with the skills and knowledge to productively engage with diverse communities.

In accordance with Canadian immigration requirements, all qualified candidates are encouraged to apply; however, Canadian citizens and permanent residents will be given priority.

Closing date is June 17th, 2026.

UPEI encourages all qualified applicants to apply for job openings; however, in keeping with the terms and provisions of the university’s various employment and collective agreements, first priority will be given to internal candidates.

Only those applicants who are invited to an interview will be acknowledged.

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