Research Associate in Historical Climatology and Historical Glaciology - Strand, London, WC2R 2LS

Research Associate in Historical Climatology and Historical Glaciology - Strand, London, WC2R 2LS

About us

The School of Global Affairs (SGA) in the Faculty of Social Science and Public Policy at King’s is a dynamic hub of multi-disciplinary scholarship that seeks to address the pressing issues facing our world today, including climate change, inequality and global health.

​At King’s, we are deeply committed to embedding good equality and diversity practices into all our activities so that the university is an inclusive, welcoming, and inspiring place to work and study, regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, marital status, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion, sex, or sexual orientation. King’s offers inclusive benefits to staff, including flexible working, Enhanced Parental Leave, funds for Parents and Carers, and the potential to join community staff networks.

About the role

This 3-year Research Associate position sits within the European Research Council project ‘AdaptAIR: Climate Adaptation through Artificial Ice Reservoirs in the Himalayas’. This project explores the social, cultural and environmental context of the deployment of Artificial Ice Reservoirs (AIRS) as water management tools in the Himalayan cold desert regions, in the context of rapidly retreating glaciers. Working with private sector partners Acres of Ice (acresofice.com), the project combines high-resolution climate, glacier and hydrological modelling with approaches from anthropology, history and critical agrarian studies to understand water use and agrarian change in the region, and how AIRs affect this. The project works across case studies in Northwest India, and possibly Nepal.

The role will explore the archive sources of the Moravian Missionary Society and colonial archives in the UK – and possibly India – to gain a deeper understanding of climate and glacier variability in the region. Following methodologies common in historical climatology, you will look for both evidence of variability in the physical environment that is recorded in written sources, and the relationship of communities in the region to the natural world. You will work closely with climatologists and glaciologists on the project, and with anthropologists exploring human relationships with ice, water and climate in the present day. The research conducted will contribute to AdaptAIR’s overall aims of understanding long-term climate vulnerability in the region, and exploring the possibility of artificial ice reservoirs as an adaptation tool. You will also have the potential to develop your own research agenda based on the materials explored in the archives.

The primary records will be from the Moravian Missionary Society, active in the region from 1856, and archives of the colonial government of India. You will be working primarily between London and Herrnhut (the location of the Moravian Mission archives), with the possibility of travel to India and Nepal. Proficiency in reading German and English is therefore essential.

You will be supervised by, and work closely with, PI George Adamson (Kings College London, background in historical climatology), and PI Jeremy Ely (University of Sheffield, background in glaciology). The project will also entail working closely with colleagues in the UK, India and Canada, notably anthropologists based at Guelph University

This is a full-time post (35 hours per week), and you will be offered a fixed term contract for 3 years.

Research staff at King’s are entitled to at least 10 days per year (pro-rata) for professional development. This entitlement, from the Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers, applies to Postdocs, Research Assistants, Research and Teaching Technicians, Teaching Fellows and AEP equivalent up to and including grade 7. Visit the Centre for Research Staff Development for more information.