Perception and preference for nature-based climate solutions: protection, conservation and restoration of wetlands in the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River region

Project Description

The crises of climate change and biodiversity loss are inextricably linked. Nature-based climate solutions—such as protection, conservation and restoration of wetlands—are uniquely suited to address both of these challenges. Canada is committed to nature-based climate solutions (NbCS) to build social and ecological resilience and to help Canada meet its 2030 and 2050 climate mitigation targets.
 
The Nature Smart Climate Solutions Fund (NSCSF), administered by Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC),  supports partner-led projects—focused on either place-based actions or sector-based policy—that result in the reduction of GHGs and increased carbon sequestration on Canadian soil using activities that also have biodiversity benefits. NSCSF activities during 2021-22 to 2030-31 will seek to reduce 2-4 megatonnes of GHGs per year from 2030 to 2050 and onwards. Several hundred million dollars will be invested in these projects across the country. ECCC therefore needs consistent and comparable integrated environmental, social and economic impact assessment methods to assess how different funded activities will affect carbon reduction under different climate, social, economic and political scenarios by 2030 or 2050.

Our project is the socio-economic part of a larger interdisciplinary project funded by the ECCC Nature-Based Climate Solutions Fund. This project aims to address the need of NSCSF and ECCC to understand the social and economic context in which new nature-based climate solutions (NbCS) will be proposed. The objective is to provide an accurate valuation of public perceptions and preferences on the effectiveness of freshwater wetlands as NbCS and their potential impacts on Canada's agricultural landscapes, focusing on regional of the Great Lakes (Ontario) and the St. Lawrence River watershed (Quebec). Our studies will cover both the general population and farmers, with the aim of assessing the demand and supply of a potential payment scheme for ecosystem services linked NbCS.

This project also connects to another sub-project funded earlier, allowing the built research tool to be potentially applied to the three other Canadian provinces, namely Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. The objective will be to provide comparable analyzes between provinces and to identify factors that facilitate or hinder the implementation and effectiveness of these new NbCS solutions under different environmental, social, economic, and political scenarios.

We are looking for candidates to work full-time under the supervision of Professor Jie He  from the Département d’Économique, École de Gestion of the Université de Sherbrooke from January 2024 for this project. The duration of the contract will be one year with the possibility of two renewals for a maximum duration of three years. The ultimately chosen candidate will have the opportunity to be involved in other publication projects led by Professor He, most of which are interested in methodological issues of non-market evaluation.

Required profile 

•	Ph.D/Doctorate in economics, preferably with a specialization in environmental and/or natural resource economics. The doctoral degree must have been obtained less than 5 years ago on the start date of the internship; 
•	Previous training/experience in non-market evaluation methods; 
•	Ability to write and communicate in French; 
•	Ability to work independently and proactively to demonstrate great autonomy. 
•	Ability to work in diverse research team; 
•	Good level of written and oral English for scientific article writing and for communicating with researchers of the extended project team from English-speaking Canadian universities.

To apply 

The financial support for this internship is minimum $60,000 (CAD) per year. Professional development support from the Université de Sherbrooke will be offered to the candidate. A suitably qualified and experienced candidate may be offered higher financial support. 

To apply for this position, please send the documents mentioned below by email to jie.he@usherbrooke.ca. The subject of the message must be “Great Lakes and St. Lawrence wetlands post-doc”.

1.	Curriculum vitae, 
2.	Transcripts of all diplomas obtained, 
3.	Statement of interest, including descriptions of relevant experiences,
4.	At least one example of research (articles, thesis, etc.) 
5.	Contact details of at least two references, including one or more academics, 
6.	When French is not the mother tongue, proof of mastery of French. 

Review of applications will continue until the position is filled.

The University of Sherbrooke values diversity, equity and inclusion in employment within its community and invites all qualified people to submit their applications.

Funding offered

Yes

Minimum 60000$CAD/year for three years

Partner(s)

Environnement et changement climatique Canada (ECCC)

The last update was on 19 April 2024. The University reserves the right to modify its projects without notice.