Additional recruitment to the Doctoral School of Natural Sciences beyond the limit of places

Project description: 

Project motivations: Mountain protected natural areas (PNAs) such as national parks often constitute regions rich in bio- and geodiversity with beautiful scenery. They are currently under increasing pressure to supply both conservation and recreation, which frequently leads to conflicts of interest. Recreation often brings substantial revenues for conservation and human health, so excluding visitors from PNAs is not a solution that is possible everywhere. However, recreation unavoidably leads to negative impacts. Therefore, management needs to have detailed data about these impacts to minimise conflicts between recreation and conservation. Yet, methodologies to collect comprehensive data about recreational impacts to inform management activities' prioritisation have received little attention in the previous studies, and this gap in the knowledge is addressed in our project.

Objectives: Recreational trails are a key element of infrastructure, which enable visitors to travel through recreation areas and engage in various activities such as hiking, biking, and horse riding. In this project, we will develop and test a novel framework for high-resolution mapping and monitoring of recreational impacts in mountain areas to derive spatially coherent information about indicators of recreational trail conditions. Implementing this framework in a wide range of benchmark settings will enable us to understand and quantify the dynamics of landscape response to direct human impacts. The main objectives of the project are: 

·         To quantify land surface dynamics in cm-scale: This will be achieved by developing and operationalising an integrated framework (close-range terrestrial and aerial remote sensing + ground surveys + geographic information systems [GIS]) to systematically quantify and monitor trail impacts in mountain recreation areas. The framework will enable us to quantify patterns and volume of landscape changes resulting from different types of direct human activities (hiking, biking, horse riding, ATVs) and hydro-meteorological events (e.g., intense rainfalls). 

·         To determine the role of environmental factors (topography, geology, local climate, type of vegetation), managerial factors (trail design, trail location) and use-related factors (level of use, type of use) in the degradation of trails in recreation areas using data mining approach (classification and regression trees, random forest, neural networks) and statistical correlation and regression models.

·         To investigate how spatial patterns of visitors' behaviour influence trail conditions by developing an agent-based approach for classifying recreational trail degradation and modelling soil erosion. Such a bottom-top model will include feedback between different types of human activities and geomorphic processes and a capacity to simulate future human impact over a mountain landscape that is undergoing increasing pressure due to the intensification of recreation use. 

Methods: In this project, we will develop a new methodological approach leading to understanding not only point-specific 2D changes but also to study volumetric transformation and collect time series of spatially dependent data. Our approach includes 3D reconstruction of the trail surface and its vicinity based on low-altitude aerial images from unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV, i.e. drones) combined with terrestrial images (for forested sections of trails), which can be subsequently processed through the structure-from-motion (SfM) process to generate detailed digital elevation models (DEMs) and linked with qualitative data about visitors' behaviour collected using map-based interviews, GPS trackers, and time-lapse cameras.

Expected results: From a scientific perspective, the most significant impact will be an increased understanding of the trade-offs between natural environment protection and other external drivers, including recreation. On a broader scale, the project results and their impact on more consistent mapping and monitoring of recreational trail conditions will enhance our understanding of relationships between direct human impact and landscape dynamics, which are among the most critical issues of modern times, not only for scientists and politicians but also for society. 

We invite applications from candidates interested in tourism and recreation, GIS, geomorphology and remote sensing. Applicants must hold a Master's degree at the time of document submission. Demonstrated experience in working with remote sensing data and GIS is preferred. Additional knowledge of geomorphology, or previous field experience, will be a further advantage. The successful applicants must be able to work independently and in a structured manner and demonstrate good collaborative skills. 

The successful applicant will join the geomorphology research group at the Faculty of Geographical and Geological Sciences at Adam Mickiewicz University (AMU) in Poznań, Poland (wngig.amu.edu.pl). Our Faculty is located just next to the AMU Sports Centre (swimming pool, sports halls, gym), and neighbouring parks and communal forests offer perfect opportunities for walking/running – so there is plenty of options for recreation during breaks or after work. Full research training in appropriate techniques (GIS, drones, photogrammetry, field survey, remote sensing) will be provided depending on the student's interests and needs. We will assist you in preparing grant applications and establishing cooperation with renowned research centres in Poland and abroad. You will also have the opportunity to participate in international conferences, courses and workshops to further improve skills related to the project and develop your future scientific career.

Tasks of PhD student:

 Roles and responsibilities of PhD student include:

 ·         Designing and conducting the experiments for investigations of changes of trail surfaces resulting from different types and levels of use and different intensity of rainfall events;

 ·         Taking part in the data collection in a real-world setting;

 ·         Performing statistical analysis of factors influencing trail conditions;

 ·         Classification of trail degradation based on collected data;

·          Preparation of PhD Thesis;

 ·         Participation in conferences and workshops;

 ·         Development of personal research qualifications;

 ·         Preparations of research papers;

·         Data management;

·         Dissemination of the project's results to a non-scientific audience (co-maintenance of the project webpage, social media accounts and public lectures);

·         Cooperation with other team members.

 Principal investigator:             

dr Aleksandra Tomczyk – project NCN OPUS-22 2021/43/B/ST10/00950 (e-mail: alto@amu.edu.pl). 

Selection Panel:      

Recruitment:

·           acceptance of documents: from 3 to 14 July 2023

·         admission process: from 21 to 28 July 2023

·         announcement of the list of candidates qualified for admission: 11 August 2023

·          submission of paper documents: from 1 to 29 September 2023.

Scholarship: 5000 PLN gross per month (about 3700 PLN net per month)

Rules of admission to doctoral schools of Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań in the academic year 2023/2024, Appendix to Resolution No. 287/2022/2023 of UAM Senate of 30th  January 2023.