The Peatland Ecology Group at the University of Helsinki and the Finnish Forest Research Institute seeks a postdoctoral researcher to work on plant-soil processes in peatlands under a warming climate. The position is for three years, and will be based in Helsinki.

The successful applicant will participate full-time in a project funded by the Academy of Finland, entitled “Plant-soil Processes in Peatlands Under a Warming Climate.”  This project will investigate the impacts of warming and water table level drawdown on:

– Carbon gas exchange between ecosystem and atmosphere;
– Above- and below-ground carbon inputs into the soil (quantity and chemical quality);
– Organic matter decomposition; and
– Allocation of carbon within the system.

The project includes a considerable amount of field work outside the Helsinki region.

Interested applicants should have a PhD with research experience in ecology or comparable fields (e.g., biology, forest sciences, biogeochemistry), and have knowledge of vegetation, carbon gas dynamics, and northern ecosystems. Other qualifications include the motivation to carry out field studies, experience in analyzing complex data, and the desire and proven ability to prepare manuscripts for peer-review in a timely manner. An understanding of process modeling and/or organic chemistry, as well as experience in labeling experiments are desirable.

The preferred start date for the position is April-May 2011. Interested applicants should send a cover letter (please include reference code 400-41-11), curriculum vitae, brief statement of research interests, and the names and contact information of three references to:

Finnish Forest Research Institute
Box 18/Jokiniemenkuja
01301 Vantaa
Finland
Email: kirjaamo@metla.fi

Application deadline: Friday, 1 April 2011.For questions, please contact:

Eeva-Stiina Tuittila
Phone: +358 9-1915-8147
Email: eevastiina.tuittila@helsinki.fi

Kari Minkkinen
Email: kari.minkkinen@helsinki.fi

Hannu Fritze
Email hannu.fritze@metla.fi

Raija Laiho
Email raija.laiho@helsinki.fi

University of Helsinki has just announced the nominees to 12 postdoctoral positions for years 2011-2013. Of the 246 applicants, Anna Laine was the only one to be nominated in the whole Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry. Her research topic for the 3-year period will be Young fens – ecosystems on the edge under changing climate. Congratulations, Anna!!!

Petra Straková will defend her doctoral thesis, Carbon dynamics in peatlands under changing hydrology: Effects of water level drawdown on litter quality, microbial enzyme activities and litter decomposition rates, on Friday, December 17, 2010, at 12 o’clock noon, in the Walter Auditorium of the EE-building (Agnes Sjöberginkatu 2, Viikki Campus). Dr. Luca Bragazza, University of Ferrara, Italy, will act as the opponent, and Professor Harri Vasander as the custos.

Krista Peltoniemi will defend her PhD thesis “Aerobic carbon-cycle related microbial communities in boreal peatlands: responses to water-level drawdown” in Viikki Campus, Forest Sciences Building (Latokartanonkaari 7) on June 4th, 2010. Dr Rebekka Artz from the Macaulay Land Use Research Institute, UK, will act as the opponent. The thesis is available at
http://www.metla.fi/dissertationes/df101.htm

** The book has been sold out. We will let you know when a new edition will be available. **

This book is a product of long-term collaboration among plant anatomists, field ecologists and peatland scientists. It serves as a guide for identifying Sphagnum mosses in both field and laboratory. Identification is based on high-quality photographs of moss habitus and microscopic characteristics.

Forty species, typical of more continental parts of northern Europe, but also commonly found elsewhere in the northern hemisphere, are presented.

The book will help bryologists, field ecologists and paleo-ecologists / geologists in their demanding work of Sphagnum identification, and reveal the beauty of the peatlands even in the smaller forms.

Price: 49.50 € (includes postage). Orders: forest-office@helsinki.fi

MMM Soili Kojola puolustaa 17.4.2009 väitöskirjaansa “Kohti hyvää suometsien hoitoa – harvennusten ja kunnostusojitusten vaikutus ojitusaluemänniköiden puuntuotokseen ja metsänkasvatuksen taloustulokseen”  Helsingin yliopiston maatalous-metsätieteellisessä tiedekunnassa. Vastaväittäjänä toimii Dos. Heli Peltola (Joensuun yliopisto, metsätieteellinen tiedekunta) ja kustoksena Prof. Harri Vasander (Helsingin yliopisto, metsäekologian laitos).

Väitöskirja on julkaistu sarjassa Dissertationes Forestales, no. 83. Yhteenveto on luettavissa myös HY:n E-thesis –palvelussa.

Soili toimii tutkijana Metsäntutkimuslaitoksen Vantaan toimintayksikössä.

BIOGEOMON 2009, the 6th International Symposium on Ecosystem Behaviour, to be held in Helsinki, Finland, 29 June – 3 July 2009. 

Among other interesting topics, the symposium will include a specific session on the Biogeochemistry of Peatlands. The session will cover all aspects of peatland biogeochemistry. Keynote presentations will be given by Pertti Martikainen (University of Kuopio, Finland) on nitrogen turnover processes in northern peatlands, and Leon Lamers Radboud University Nijmegen) on biochemical aspects of peatland restoration.

After the symposium, a two day field trip for peatland enthusiasts will be organized to visit the intensive research sites Lakkasuo and Siikaneva mires in south-central Finland.

Symposium website: http://www.environment.fi/syke/biogeomon2009

Terhi Riutta will defend her PhD thesis, Fen ecosystem carbon gas dynamics in changing hydrological conditions, on Friday, May 30th, 2008, at the Hyytiälä Forestry Field Station. Professor Mats Nilsson from SLU, Umeå, will act as the opponent, and Professor Harri Vasander, University of Helsinki, Department of Forest Ecology, as the custos.

The thesis is available at Dissertationes Forestales, no. 67.