General areas of responsibility
Host department
The proposed Ph.D. will take place in co-supervision between two IFREMER units (“Geo-ocean” unit – marine geosciences, and “Chemical contamination of marine ecosystems”) and a laboratory of the University of Western Brittany (LEMAR, Laboratory of the marine environment sciences). The Ph.D. candidate will be hosted in Brest, between the Geo-Ocean unit (IFREMER, Brest) and the LEMAR (European Institute for Marine Studies), both located on the same campus.
The Geo-ocean unit is a joint marine geosciences research unit composed of members of IFREMER, CNRS, the University of Western Brittany and the University of South Brittany. Counting more than 130 members, Geo-ocean forms today the largest marine geoscience laboratory in France (https://www.geo-ocean.fr). Within this unit, the ODYSC team (Observation and dynamics of coastal systems) is dedicated to the study of coastal environments dynamics in response to natural and anthropogenic forcing agents.
The Unit « Chemical contamination of marine ecosystems » develop new knowledge on the transfers and biological effects of chemical pollutants on marine ecosystems. Part of the team is especially dedicated to studying the spatio-temporal dynamics of historical and emerging metallic and organic compounds in sediments, water and organisms along the land-sea continuum.
The LEMAR (Laboratory of the marine environment sciences) is a mixed IFREMER, UBO, CNRS and IRD research unit that has for scientific goal to understand and model the biosphere marine systems, to define the characteristics of the environments and associated organisms and to decrypt their interactions. Within the LEMAR, the CHIBIDO team (Marine chemistry, biogeochemical cycles and oceanic dynamic) in which the Ph.D will be hosted has for mission to better understand biogeochemical cycles and their impacts on the ecosystems, and notably within estuarian domains.
Summary
Context and general objectives
The Aulne river is the main tributary of the bay of Brest (western Brittany, France). From the quality of its inputs closely depends the health of the ecosystems of the bay, to which are tied – downstream – aquaculture and fishing activities, as well as – upstream- drinking water pumping. Since the 18th century, the Aulne is the sink of a major heavy metals caused by argentiferous lead mines located upland on the watershed. The mines definitely closed in 1934, yet the pollution is still sensible today in surface waters, sediments as well as mollusks, thus representing an important health issue.
Results of recent studies we conducted showed that the Aulne estuary sedimentary banks have considerable amounts of pollutants stocked only tens of centimeters below the surface, thus susceptible to form a gigantic pollution if they were to be remobilized. Mitigation studies were recently engaged on the mining sites themselves, everything is yet to be made regarding the release of pollutants by the sedimentary banks downstream. Our hypothesis is that downstream dynamics are susceptible to form an important source of pollution, will it be through lateral erosion of the banks, by transfers at the water-sediment interface or both.
The proposed Ph.D. project thus has for goal to study the release of the heavy-metal pollutants stored within the estuary banks, with for objectives (i) to quantify the stock of pollutants stored within the banks and available for remobilization and (ii) to monitor how heavy-metals are released. Overall, the ai mis to determine under which conditions and timing the pollutants are released, so as to produced data of pertinence for the building of management policies (water agencies, watershed syndicates), especially with regards to sanitary questions (aquaculture) and potential future mitigation actions.
Main missions
The main missions of the proposed Ph.D. will be :
1) To quantify the volume of heavy-metals stored within the Aulne estuary from upland to the mouth
2) To propose a quantification of lateral erosion of the sedimentary banks along specific and representative portions of the estuary, and to study the associated pollutant fluxes.
3) To monitor the high-frequency release of heavy-metal by the banks, through the study of the particulate and dissolved phases as well as interstitial waters, seasonally and following the tidal cycles.
To do so, the Ph.D. candidate will deploy a set of tools relevant from diverse scientific domains, ranging from geosciences (remote-sensing, GIS, coring, sediment trapping and sedimentary analyses) to geochemistry (interstitial water smapling and analysis, trace metal elements analyses, metal isotopes).
Keywords
Estuaries, geochemistry, mining pollution, heavy metals, sedimentary archives.
Required Knowledge, skills, and characteristics
Initial training
We seek at hiring a Ph.D. candidate with a solid background is sedimentary geochemistry, ideally with notions in sedimentary geology and/or hydrogeology. The candidate will be showing a strong interest and experience in estuarine and/or fluviatile systems, as well as a strong will to pursue collaborative and pluri-disciplinary research, a strong motivation for fieldwork (experience awaited) and laboratory analyses. The candidate will possess experience in analytical geochemistry (metallic trace elements, metal isotopes) and will show appeal and motivation for geosciences methods (remote-sensing, mapping, sedimentological methods).
Profile
The candidate will pursue autonomous research work, in close collaboration with the supervising team and surrounding technical teams. The candidate will be moved by scientific curiosity, and by a will to develop his/her own questioning. With the help of the supervising teams, the candidate will seek to engage its own collaborations, be it at the local level, by taking advantage of the pluri-disciplinary context of the European institute for Marine studies, or at the national and international level.
- Sc. / engineer level: sedimentary geochemistry, hydrogeology
- Solid competences in geochemistry of metallic elements (elementary and isotopic)
- Experience and strong appeal for fieldwork in estuarien and coastal domains
- Appeal for pluridisciplinary work
- English : read, spoken, written
Specific working conditions
- Fieldwork (monitoring, sampling) on land and from boats, recurrent.
- Office work (daily) and lab work (weekly)
- Possibility of work out of working days if required by fieldwork constraints (rare)
- Abroad stay within a foreign lab (TBD, 1 or several months, end of second year)
- Possible participation in the supervision of Bachelor or M.Sc. students.
True opportunities to work within the priority themes of IFREMER, the doctoral contracts proposed by the institute open the right to a monthly living allowance of 2300 euros gross over a 3-years duration, non-cumulable with other study allowances.
How to apply ?
The application file must contain:
- a CV
- a motivation letter
- one or several reference letters
- a copy of the candidate’s transcript of records (Bachelor + available M.Sc.)
The whole file must be uploaded on this site under the form of two separate PDFs. Each document must not exceed 3 MB.
Closure date for application is April 15, 2024. In the meantime, we strongly invite you to inform us on your will to apply, by contacting to the supervisors of the project: jerome.goslin@ifremer.fr, matthieu.waeles@univ-brest.fr , nicolas.briant@ifremer.fr
The doctoral contracts will start from October 1st, 2024, given that the candidate has been able to produce on time all necessary forms authorizing its recruitment by IFREMER (M.Sc. or engineer diploma, visa for non-EU foreign candidates).
The Institute and the recruiting department
A pioneer in ocean science, IFREMER’s cutting-edge research is grounded in sustainable development and open science. Our vision is to advance science, expertise and innovation to:
- Protect and restore the ocean
- Sustainably use marine resources to benefit society
- Create and share ocean data, information & knowledge.
With more than 1,500 personnel spread along the French coastline in more than 20 sites, the Institute explores the 3 great oceans: the Indian, Atlantic and Pacific oceans. A leader in ocean science, IFREMER is managing the French Oceanographic Fleet and its dedicated scientists create ground-breaking technology to push the boundaries of ocean exploration and knowledge, from the abyss to the atmosphere-ocean interface.
Well-established in the international scientific community, our scientists, engineers and technicians are committed to advance knowledge about our planet’s last unexplored frontiers. They provide the science we need for informed decision-making and public policy and they transfer this knowledge and technology to businesses to fulfill public and private needs. Core to our mission is also to strengthen public awareness about the importance of understanding the ocean and its resources, and empowering future generations of leaders through education and outreach national campaigns.
Founded in 1984, IFREMER is a French public organization and its budget approximates 240 million euros. It is operating under the joint authority of the French Ministry for Higher Education, Research and Innovation, the french Ministry of the Sea, the French Ministry for the Ecological and Solidary Transition, and the French Ministry of Agriculture and Food.
Deadline for applications: 15/04/2024
All applications are processed exclusively via our website. Interested candidates can apply by clicking the “Apply” button.
For more information about the opportunity click here.