The Department of Geography invites applications from senior researchers for a British Columbia Leadership Chair in Environmental Remote Sensing, supported by the provincially funded British Columbia Leading Edge Endowment Fund (LEEF).  The LEEF program is an endowment established by the Government of British Columbia to fund permanent BC Leadership Chairs at universities in the province. The endowed Chairs are designed to attract world-class faculty, strengthen the province’s capacity for innovative research, promote British Columbia as a centre for cutting-edge research, enhance economic development and position the province as a leader in the knowledge-based economy.

The Leadership Chair will build upon UVic’s strengths in use of advanced remote sensing and geospatial analysis to focus on the following key tasks:

1.  Applications Development

Applications development research will focus on the development and improvement of parameters for measuring ecosystem health, including for example (but not limited to):

• measures of forest productivity and health
• estimates of carbon stocks and budgets
• indices of environmental degradation
• habitat metrics in coastal marine environments
• indices of crop health in agricultural regions

2.  Algorithm Development

The development of algorithms allows the retrieval of, for example, key ecosystem parameters.  Algorithm development will focus on information extraction and modelling support. 

3.  System Development

The Chair will be expected to work closely with partners on campus, in the community, and in industry, to develop comprehensive systems that can be applied in monitoring and assessment programs.  The data produced will be of significant value in decisions related to resource and environmental management.

A LEEF Chair is a major career recognition and recruitment program for the Province of British Columbia, intended to recruit exceptional scholars with established international profiles to BC. The successful applicant will be nominated by the University for a LEEF Chair and, upon approval by the BC LEEF Secretariat, will then be offered the position of Associate or Full Professor with Tenure. The anticipated start date is July 1, 2023.

Qualified candidates will have a PhD in Geography or a related discipline.  We seek, in particular, applicants with an established leadership profile and international presence in the use of remote sensing techniques to address large-scale, integrated questions.  The successful candidate will develop a research program broadly in the area of natural resource management in BC, as specified above.  External partners, ideally including BC First Nations, are expected to be an integral part of the candidate’s efforts to guide research focus and benefit from resulting solutions.  In addition to external partners, it is expected the Chair will develop strong ties within the University, taking advantage of the strength in community engagement expertise and experiential learning focus found at UVic.  To engage in this work, it is expected that the candidate can demonstrate knowledge of and/or willingness to learn about the unique context of environmental governance in BC with respect to historical and ongoing colonialism and Indigenous resurgence.

The successful applicant is expected to lead a high-quality, original research program that will build upon their national and international stature to attract and develop excellent students and researchers.  Applicants must have demonstrated their support for equity, diversity and inclusion in university or other settings.  The Chair is also expected to be a high-quality teacher, with a track record of creating inclusive class environments and supporting a diverse student body, and with the ability to teach core courses in remote sensing applications.