The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid-Tropics (ICRISAT) is seeking applications from a dynamic and highly innovative Scientific Officer – Agricultural Remote Sensing to coordinate field operations and operate UAVs in a multi-sensor field measurement campaign in the Koutiala district (Sikasso region, Mali) under the STARS project (Spurring a Transformation for Agriculture through Remote Sensing). The Scientific Officer will be based at ICRISAT’s West and Central Africa (WCA) Region Office in Bamako and will have overall responsibilities to work in collaboration with ICRISAT-WCA scientists, NARS, NGOs, the private sector and smallholder farmers in the region.
ICRISAT is a non-profit, non-political organization that conducts agricultural research for development in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa with a wide array of partners throughout the world. Covering 6.5 million square kilometers of land in 55 countries, the semi-arid tropics have over 2 billion people, and 644 million of these are the poorest of the poor.
ICRISAT is headquartered in Patancheru, near Hyderabad, India, with two regional hubs and five country offices in sub-Saharan Africa. In WCA, ICRISAT has its regional hub in Mali and country programs in Niger and Nigeria.
ICRISAT, established in 1972, is a member of the CGIAR Consortium. For more details, see www.icrisat.org.
The Job
Under the supervision of STARS project scientists at ICRISAT and in coordination with collaborating institutions (Universite Catholique de Louvain, Universite de Sherbrooke, Wageningen University and Research Centre, ITC/University of Twente), the incumbent will be responsible for the implementation and day-to-day collection of crop growth, reflectance data with help from a team of local field technicians. This will include flight mission planning and analysis, pre-flight, in-flight and post-flight checks and procedures, imagery acquisition, downloads, pre-processing and transfer to ICRISAT and collaborating institutions for further analysis. Duties will also include supervision of fieldwork by research technicians, and equipment maintenance. During the growing season s/he will be based in Koutiala for easy access to on-farm experimental sites. The candidate will be responsible for communicating progress of field data collection with the measurement campaign coordinator.
Qualifications
MSc in Agricultural, Environmental, Computer Sciences and/or Engineering
Good working knowledge of GIS and remote sensing imagery processing software
Demonstrated interest in remote/radio control vehicles, optics, electronics maintenance
Field experience with the collection, processing and statistical analysis of experimental data from agricultural experiments will be an advantage
Mandatory command of technical English
Fluency in French and Bamanankan
Leadership skills and willingness to supervise a small field team of research technicians
Interest and ability to work in multi-disciplinary and multi-cultural teams
Willingness to travel as per needs of the job and work extra hours in challenging field conditions
Good interpersonal and communication skills with pleasing personality
Employment conditions
The position offers a unique opportunity to engage with smallholder farmers and collaborate with a range of scientists from various disciplines. The selected candidates will be offered a 1-year contract with possibility of renewal based on satisfactory performance. The post is in category A of the NRS (Nationally Recruited Staff) category.
How to apply:
Applications must be sent to the address icrisat@icrisatml.org no later than August 14, 2014. Applications should include:
an up-to-date Curriculum Vitae, with copies of degrees and relevant working certificates
the names and addresses (including phone/e-mail) of two referees
a motivation letter stating the date of availability of the candidate
Screening of applications will begin immediately for recruitment by latest August 2014. All applications will be acknowledged, however only short listed candidates will be contacted.