ILRI Research Officer - GIS - Jobs in Kenya

ILRI Research Officer - GIS - Jobs in Kenya

The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) seeks to recruit Research Officer – GIS to Monitoring and characterization of climate smart agricultural practices and assessment of performance of DSR varieties and practices of small holding farmers (SHF) in different rice growing environments of Kenya using different scales of hyperspectral and other earth observation data;

The incumbent will support scientists/ project staff by flying the hyperspectral drone over sampled plots and collecting hyper spec datasets and timely field/crop data using handheld instruments and develop standard models to monitor the DSR practices and adoptions at local field scale;Facilitate the execution and implementation of planned Geospatial activities in close coordination with local National partners and other stakeholders.

ILRI works to improve food security and nutrition and reduce poverty in developing countries through research for efficient, safe and sustainable use of livestock. It is the only one of 11 CGIAR research centers dedicated entirely to animal agriculture research for the developing world. Co-hosted by Kenya and Ethiopia, ILRI has regional or country offices and projects in East, South and Southeast Asia as well as Central, East, Southern and West Africa. www.ilri.org

ILRI hosts the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in Nairobi (www.irri.org) with its headquarters in Los Baños, Laguna in the Philippines. IRRI is the world’s premier research organization dedicated to reducing poverty and hunger through rice science; improving the health and welfare of rice farmers and consumers; and protecting the rice-growing environment for future generations.

Key Responsibilities

Purpose

Monitor the DSR effectiveness in each environment by collecting hyperspectral drone/satellite data and other field/crop parameters over the sample fields.

Test the possibility of using hyperspectral data to monitor and characterize the agricultural management practices, DSR yield and DSR adaptation traits in hybrids and varieties in different environments

Develop the models to monitor the environment, plant health and assessment of performance of DSR varieties at local field scale

Characterize the variation in best practices, fertilizer practices & water use (avoidance or duration of flooding) by reducing flooding

Develop multiple RS based indices to assess water, nutrient usage of the plants and generate the empirical equation to determine yield

Modeling alternative ways to determine DSR growth and fertilizer and nutrient use will be carried out through usage of Hyper spectral data, environmental variables such as high-resolution DEM, climatic variables and subsequent satellite images for scaling

Use lock step scaling of local to satellite Hyper spectral data

Analyze the datasets, and contribute to the writing of reports, research papers and other communication material

Manage the primary and secondary data collection process in field soil, water, weather, crop establishment methods and practices etc.;

Engagement

Acquire, process, transform, and extract information from acquired

hyperspectral imagery

Inform the immediate supervisor on the development of hyperspectral drone acquisition, image processing, and GIS based activities

Work closely with project team members to ensure full understanding of the scope, priorities, and deadlines of the activities

Collaborate with scientists at advance research institutes and in the private sector to develop new research products

Assist project leaders and/or collaborating partners to define the scope of research activities

Contribute to the organization of advisory committee, and other meetings and monitoring/ execution of actions to be taken related to their units /sub-units

Lead the efforts on biannual/annual/other reports preparation of institute and associated projects of theme/ sub-theme

Actively contribute to the drafting communication materials, news, bulletins, etc.

Participation / contribution to visits, meetings, workshops, farmers fairs and etc.

Delivery

Ensure timely delivery of processed and orthorectified drone based geospatial products to the project team

Ensure the timely completion of high-quality deliverables

Collect, store and curate data generated from the analytics

Communicate research results and new ideas in a broad array of outlets, including peer-reviewed journals, mass media, policy fora as well as national and international scientific conferences

Requirements

Master’s degree in Geospatial Science, Agriculture, Geography, Environmental Science, or other related discipline with at least 4 years’ relevant work experience of application of Remote Sensing and GIS in agriculture

Has extensive proven technical proficiency in remote sensing and GIS with proven skills in

Experience working with hyperspectral and multispectral image analysis

Technical proficiency in operating drone mounted with hyperspectral / multispectral sensors, and

Crop types mapping, vegetation phenology, cropping system mapping, and database management, analytics using physical (soil, water and climate) and farmer databases.

Proven knowledge of field data collection and agro-management practices

Has good working knowledge of remote sensing and GIS software, Database and software such as ERDAS, ENVI and e-Cognition and drone image processing tools like Pix4D, Agisoft and other opensource etc.

Substantial experience in scripting such as R and Google Earth Engine

Certified Drone pilot license

Experience of any of statistical analysis and logical development of

Experience working with large team and different disciplines.

Experience with working on multiple remote sensing datasets like satellite & drone images

How to Apply

For more information and job application details, see; ILRI Research Officer - GIS - Jobs in Kenya

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