PhD position in Fire-Resilient Landscapes under Climate Change: Linking Land Management, Wildfire Risk and Ecosystem Recovery

Role Overview
The sGlobe lab at KU Leuven (Belgium) and the Research Institute Nature and Forest - INBO (Belgium) are seeking a highly motivated PhD student to work on the MicroChange project: “Fire-Resilient Landscapes under Climate Change: Linking Land Management, Wildfire Risk and Ecosystem Recovery”. This PhD position, under the supervision of Prof. Koenraad Van Meerbeek and Dr. Stien Heremans, will focus on understanding how land management and landscape design influence wildfire risk and post-fire ecosystem resilience, and to develop science-based tools that support land managers in creating fire-resilient landscapes under a changing climate.

The project combines landscape ecology, fire ecology, geospatial analysis, ecological modelling, machine learning, remote sensing, and stakeholder engagement. The PhD research will focus on two complementary themes:
1. Assessing how land management practices and landscape structure affect the key determinants of wildfire behaviour, including fuel types, fuel loads, live fuel moisture content, and microclimatic conditions. Using data from ten fire-prone study landscapes, the candidate will integrate information on vegetation, ecohydrology, soils, topography, management history, and human land use into a harmonized geospatial database. Statistical and machine-learning approaches (e.g. Random Forests and XGBoost) will be used to quantify how management actions and landscape characteristics shape wildfire risk and to develop future management scenarios.
2. Investigating ecosystem resilience and recovery following fire. Field monitoring plots will be established across gradients of wildfire history, fire severity, and management interventions, including prescribed burning. The candidate will evaluate indicators of ecosystem health and recovery, including vegetation structure, soil properties, and belowground biodiversity. These field observations will be combined with satellite-based analyses of post-fire recovery trajectories to identify the factors that promote resilient ecosystems and reduce future fire risk.

The project will contribute directly to the development of decision-support tools for land and nature managers, enabling evidence-based evaluation of management options such as prescribed burning, vegetation management, restoration planting, and fuel reduction measures. Throughout the project, the PhD candidate will collaborate closely with stakeholders, land managers, policymakers, and an interdisciplinary consortium of ecologists, remote sensing specialists, and fire scientists.

Responsibilities
- Integrate information on vegetation, ecohydrology, soils, topography, management history, and human land use into a harmonized geospatial database.
- Use statistical and machine-learning approaches (e.g. Random Forests and XGBoost) to quantify how management actions and landscape characteristics shape wildfire risk.
- Develop future management scenarios.
- Establish field monitoring plots across gradients of wildfire history, fire severity, and management interventions.
- Evaluate indicators of ecosystem health and recovery, including vegetation structure, soil properties, and belowground biodiversity.
- Combine field observations with satellite-based analyses of post-fire recovery trajectories.
- Collaborate with stakeholders, land managers, policymakers, and an interdisciplinary consortium.

Requirements and Qualifications
- MSc degree in a relevant field (e.g. Ecology, Biology, Bioscience Engineering, Environmental Sciences, Physical Geography, or a related discipline), or will have obtained it by the start of the position.
- Excellent grades.
- Strong interest in biodiversity and conservation.
- Background in terrestrial ecology and ecological modelling.
- Solid programming skills (e.g. R) and experience with fieldwork and spatial data analysis.
- Fluent in English, both written and spoken.
- Collaborative team player with strong communication skills.

What They Offer
- A full-time PhD fellowship (4 years) following a positive evaluation after one year.
- Preferred starting date: November 2026.
- Location: Based at the division Forest, Nature and Landscape in Leuven (Belgium), with close collaboration with team Landscape Ecology and Nature Management at INBO (Brussels, Belgium).
- Competitive salary following KU Leuven assistant scales.
- Ecocheques, a bicycle and a bicycle allowance or a full reimbursement of public transport costs for commuting.
- Full benefits including holidays and bonuses.
- Collaboration in a young and dynamic international scientific team.
- Emphasis on work-life balance.