项目介绍

2024年10月25日

Function

We are seeking four highly motivated PhD students to join our team as part of the interdisciplinary Oil-Clips program (OIL-CLiPS – WUR), funded by Wageningen UR and its partners. The Oil-Clips program aims at unraveling the causes of disease outbreaks in oil palm plantations, focusing on Basal Stem Rot in Indonesia and Bud Rot in Colombia and how these are affected by changes in climate and farmer practices. These disease outbreaks are seen as an interplay between host, pathogen, human action, and environment. The recruited PhD candidates will investigate these relations by applying concepts and methods from at least two disciplines. This specific PhD project focusses on Bud Rot outbreaks in oil palm in Colombia. Research locations are Cenipalma in Colombia and Wageningen University in the Netherlands.

PhD 1: Standing strong together? The impact of collective disease management on plant pathogen epidemics.

Bud Rot, caused by Phytophthora palmivora, is a devastating disease threatening oil palm plantations, particularly in Latin America. The disease is currently being managed with rigorous integrated pest management, including planting a partially resistant oil palm variety. However, these measures are not equally accessible to every grower, and the availability of a partially resistant oil palm variety can lead to a (false) sense of security. Because the pathogen is airborne, it can easily spread between neighbouring plots hence disease management on adjacent farms mutually affect each other.

You will monitor the spread and incidence of Bud Rot disease, comparing areas with local collective disease management with areas in which individual smallholders take different measures to prevent outbreaks within one region in Colombia. Based on this data, you will extend existing models that calculate the risk of Bud Rot outbreaks to include spillover effects between plots. In addition to performing field experiments and modelling, you will gather and interpret data about the social factors that may enable or constrain the strengthening of collective disease management. You will collaborate with two other PhD candidates, one that will focus on pathogen genetic diversity and coinfections and their impact on Bud Rot disease severity, and one that will focus on modelling the impact of climate change on Bud Rot outbreaks. The research may include possible comparisons with South-East Asia.

You will work here
The research is embedded within the Laboratory of Phytopathology (https://www.wur.nl/en/research-results/chair-groups/plant-sciences/centre-for-crop-systems-analysis.htm) led by Prof. Gert Kema, and within Cenipalma in Colombia (https://www.cenipalma.org/). Your supervisor from Cenipalma is Dr. Mauricio Mosquera Montoya. Your co-promotors from Wageningen University & Research are Dr. Like Fokkens (Laboratory of Phytopathology) and Dr. Kees Jansen (Rural Sociology Group).

Function Requirements

You are a team player with good interpersonal skills, with interest and willingness to work with partners from different cultural backgrounds, including other researchers, technical staff, industrial partners, smallholder farmers, and so on. You have a strong and demonstrable personal connection with Colombia or neighbouring countries, and you are fluent in Spanish (written and spoken), in addition to English (see below). You are willing to travel; the successful candidate will be based in Colombia and will spend in total 18 months in Wageningen (travel costs for the candidate will be covered) during the PhD project. (Note: In-depth knowledge of or experience in oil palm production systems is considered an important advantage. Therefore, candidates who are experienced with, and passionate about oil palm, but who do not meet some of the following requirements, are also invited to apply.)

You also possess:

• A successfully completed master’s degree in phytopathology, agro-economy or a related discipline;
• Proven affinity and experience with mathematical modelling;
• Motivation to study the social organization of disease management practices in the field/on the farm;
• Skills and commitment to work in an interdisciplinary research programme and motivation to contribute to the overall programme;
• Demonstrable communicative and reporting skills.

For this position your command of the English language is expected to be at C1 level. Sometimes it is necessary to submit an internationally recognised Certificate of Proficiency in the English Language. More information can be found here.

Contactinformation

For more information about this position, please contact Like Fokkens (Assistant Professor) by e-mail (like.fokkens@wur.nl).

For more information about the procedure, please contact Noorien Abbas, corporate recruiter  noorien.abbas@wur.nl.