The World Aquaculture Conference will be taking place in Darwin, Australia from May 29 to June 1, 2023. With 58 sessions on offer and several thousand attendees expected, it is an event not to be missed by those involved in the aquaculture community.
The deadline for abstract submission is on March 1, 2023. Please note the submission requirements and format. The guidelines and link for submission can be found here.
The Ministry for Primary Industries are pleased to announce that applications for the 2023 MPI Postgraduate Science Scholarships have opened to Master’s and PhD candidates from New Zealand universities. These scholarships are for candidates planning to study (or currently studying) a wide range of fields relevant to the primary sector, including (but not limited to) economics, physical or social sciences and Mātauranga Māori.
The scholarship scheme is aimed at building science, technology and cultural capability within the primary industries and provides a gateway into a career using evidence to improve the primary sector.
Each recipient receives a prize combining a financial contribution towards their study and a professional development package, including the benefit of an MPI mentor for the duration of their study and other professional development opportunities. The value of each MSc scholarship is $12,000 over 2 years and the value of each PhD scholarship is $50,000 over 3.5 years.
To apply, or for more information, please visit the MPI website.
Key timeframes for the 2023 MPI Postgraduate Science Scholarships:
To be eligible, applicants must:
Further questions should be directed to the Science@mpi.govt.nz inbox with “MPI Postgraduate Scholarship Query” in the subject line.
Hosted by The University of Technology Sydney from 12 to 14 July 2023, this transdisciplinary conference focuses on achieving sustainability transformations, and the theme this year is the power of partnerships in tackling global sustainability challenges. Sub-themes include:
Submissions are invited for T-practice sessions, workshops, oral and poster presentations, panel dialogues, arts, creative and wellbeing practices.
Visit the conference website for more information and to register your submission.
Deadlines:
22 February: Round 1 abstracts and proposals submission deadline (primarily in-person focus)
22 March: Round 2 abstracts and proposals submission deadline (primarily online focus)
William Angliss Institute (Melbourne) has advertised for an Associate Dean (Research) (non-teaching permanent position at Assoc Pro/Prof level). It is open to anyone in the food, tourism, hospitality or events fields. To find out more and to view position description, or apply, please visit the job listing here.
The Department of Human Geography at Lund University, Sweden, are seeking candidates with an interest in the interaction of economic geography, sustainability and socioenvironmental issues. Particularly, this position will concern developing research on the links between climate change adaptation and innovation in the agriculture sector of Skåne.
Feminist and critical geographers with proved field experience using qualitative methods and a topical focus in agricultural innovation and climate change adaptation are encouraged to apply for this 3-year scholarship.
To read the position description and to apply, please visit the job listing here.
Congratulations to our colleagues Andrea Brower and Ferne Edwards on the publication of their respective books.
Andrea Brower’s Seeds of Occupation, Seeds of Possibility examines the “the social and historical conditions by which the chemical-seed oligopoly came to occupy the most geographically isolated islands in the world and made the soils of Hawaiʻi the epicenter of agrochemical and agricultural biotechnology testing” (West Virginia University Press). The book is available as a paperback or eBook.
Ferne Edwards’ Food Resistance Movements: Journeying Through Alternative Food Networks traces her research on food waste (Australia), the food sovereignty movement (Venezuela), and autonomous food spaces (Catalonia), with reflections on urban food system transitions, over almost two decades now as one book. She has dedicated this book to Jane Dixon, her PhD supervisor and friend, and Paul Martin, a close friend who introduced her to dumpster diving and food activism in general. The book is available as a hardcover or eBook.
Dr Jenn Lacy-Nichols is looking for a casual research assistant to support a one-year project analysing government transparency regarding corporate lobbying. The RA would support the first two workstreams of the project: a scoping review of peer-reviewed and grey literature; and an audit of government websites. They would also assist in drafting academic papers as a named co-author.
The project will run from January to December 2023. The total RA input is estimated to be .6FTE over five months. Specific timelines and hours are open for discussion.
Desired experience:
Work can be completed remotely, however candidates will require Australian work rights.
To register your interest, please email Jennifer by 20 February 2023:
– Your CV
– 1-2 paragraphs outlining your skills and interest in this work
Any questions or to discuss the project further, please contact Jennifer.
EcoFoodSystems project seeking postdoctoral researcher for interdisciplinary research on climate-resilient agroecological transitions of city regional food systems.
Food systems encompass all actors and interlinked value-adding activities involved in the production, aggregation, processing, distribution, consumption and disposal of food products that originate from agriculture, forestry or fisheries, and components of the broader economic, societal and natural environments in which they are embedded. Most available data for food-systems decision making remains at the national scale, while day-to-day multi-sectoral decision-making in food systems largely happens in city regions and along value chains with their interconnected peri-urban and rural foodsheds.
Research and innovation activities are needed to enable scaling of innovations and evidence-based transitions to climate-resilience food systems across interlinked urban, peri-urban and rural communities. The EcoFoodSystems project will conduct research and innovation activities that enable stakeholders, decision-makers and change-agents within City-Regional food systems (encompassing both rural and urban communities, production systems, value chains and consumption systems) to improve day-to-day performance towards agroecological and climate-resilient transitions.
By integration of data (including big-data) and research findings, the project will develop sub-national decision-support dashboards and decision-support tools in collaboration with stakeholders, end-users and beneficiaries in the food systems of selected city regions. The project will co-develop and disseminate a common framework, methods and innovative action-learning processes that can be scaled with multi-stakeholder platforms across (and beyond) the selected cities and the rural communities which supply their food.
The EcoFoodSystems project is funded by IFAD/EU and led by the University of Galway’s Ryan Institute, in partnership with Alliance Bioversity International – CIAT, Wageningen University & Research (WUR), and RIKOLTO International. EcoFoodSystem’s research and innovation activities are focused on city regions in Vietnam, Colombia and Ethiopia.
To further build the EcoFoodSystems project team, the EcoFoodSystems project at the University of Galway is now recruiting a postdoctoral researcher based in the EcoFoodSystems project within the Ryan Institute at the University of Galway and who will conduct research and innovation activities between Galway and the partner countries (Vietnam, Colombia, Ethiopia).
We are seeking an impact-motivated postdoc who is willing to conduct research across disciplinary boundaries that contributes to meeting the goals and objectives of the EcoFoodSystems project. We are particularly interested in applications from talented and motivated researchers with strong backgrounds in the arena of sustainability and food systems, who have strong and proven skills in food systems data analytics, big data, modelling, geospatial analytics, data visualisation, network mapping and environmental footprinting (e.g. life cycle analysis) and development of data-driven decision support tools. Experience in data analytical and visualisation tools such as R (incl. statistical, GIS packages), Python, Tableau, PowerBi, SQL, ArcGIS) and strong competency in data-analytical and statistical techniques.
The successful applicant for the postdoc position will have a PhD and significant/proven prior practical research experience and be willing and capable of conducting field-based research activities via EcoFoodSystems partner institutions in Vietnam, Colombia and Ethiopia. Evidence of prior involvement in research leading to high-quality publications and reports would be particularly welcome, including engagement in the process of drafting, revising and publishing research outputs. The successful applicant will be paid a salary of €39,523-€43,127 per annum.
Applications to include a covering letter, CV, and the contact details of three referees should be sent, via e-mail (in word or PDF only) to Prof. Charles Spillane. Please put reference number University of Galway 283-22 in the subject line of the e-mail application.
The deadline for applications is 1700 (GMT) 25th January 2023. Please note that only applications that put reference number University of Galway 283-22 in the subject line of e-mail application will be considered.
PHD Candidature Opportunity (2023)
Queensland University of Technology (QUT) is offering a PhD candidature opportunity to work within an ARC Discovery Project: ‘On-Farm Food System Shocks: Managing Transitions to Future Food Security’. The PhD candidate will conduct research in the social scientific fields of food and agriculture, sustainable food systems, food security and food waste, predominantly employing qualitative research methodologies. The research project requires a critical, ‘complex systems’ perspective with a theoretical focus on transitions to sustainability.
Organisationally, the candidature is located within the QUT School of Management, Faculty of Business and Law, and the Centre for Agriculture and the Bioeconomy. The principal supervisor for the advertised candidature is Professor Carol Richards with Dr Rudi Messner as associate supervisor.
The successful applicant must meet the PhD course entry requirements at QUT and will have the opportunity and supervisor support to apply for a PhD scholarship (application deadline: 31 March 2023).
For further inquiry and expression of interest please contact: Professor Carol Richards – Sustainable Food Systems
We are delighted to announce that the next Australasian Agri-Food Research Network conference will be held in Hobart/nipaluna, Tasmania/lutrawita from December 4-7, 2023.
Hosted by the University of Tasmania, the theme of the conference is: Place-Based Agri-Food Systems in a Time of Climate Crisis: Resilience, Resistance and Regeneration. As with previous conferences, there will be a pre-conference field trip on Monday December 4, a trivia night, and a conference dinner.
Agri-Food Research Network 