PhD Position in Fire-Resilient Landscapes under Climate Change: Linking Land Management, Wildfire Risk and Ecosystem Recovery KU Leuven in Belgium

The sGlobe lab at KU Leuven, in collaboration with the Research Institute Nature and Forest (INBO), invites applications for a fully funded PhD position focused on fire-resilient landscapes under climate change. The project, part of the MicroChange initiative, aims to understand how land management and landscape design influence wildfire risk and post-fire ecosystem resilience, ultimately developing science-based tools to support land managers in creating fire-resilient landscapes.

The sGlobe lab is renowned for its research on the effects of global change on biodiversity and terrestrial ecosystem functioning, utilizing big data, advanced modelling, fieldwork, and drone imagery. INBO, a Flemish government research institute, specializes in biodiversity and environmental monitoring, employing innovative techniques such as remote sensing and eDNA analysis. The successful candidate will join a dynamic, international team and collaborate closely with both institutions.

This PhD project will investigate how land management practices and landscape characteristics affect wildfire behaviour and ecosystem recovery. The research combines landscape ecology, fire ecology, geospatial analysis, ecological modelling, machine learning, remote sensing, and stakeholder engagement. Key tasks include integrating data from fire-prone landscapes into a geospatial database, applying statistical and machine learning methods to assess wildfire risk, and conducting field monitoring to evaluate ecosystem health and recovery post-fire. Satellite-based analyses will complement fieldwork to identify factors promoting ecosystem resilience.

The position offers extensive training in ecological modelling, GIS, remote sensing, field ecology, and stakeholder co-creation. The candidate will contribute 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, and restoration planting. The project is highly interdisciplinary, involving collaboration with ecologists, remote sensing specialists, fire scientists, land managers, and policymakers.

Applicants must hold or expect to obtain a relevant MSc degree (e.g., Ecology, Biology, Environmental Sciences, Physical Geography), have excellent grades, a strong interest in biodiversity and conservation, experience in terrestrial ecology and ecological modelling, programming skills (e.g., R), and proficiency in English. The position is based in Leuven, Belgium, with close collaboration with INBO in Brussels. The fellowship is for four years, with a competitive salary, ecocheques, commuting benefits, holidays, and bonuses. The preferred start date is November 2026.

To apply, send your CV and application letter (including your project approach and at least one reference) to Prof. Koenraad Van Meerbeek at [email protected] by 30 July 2026. Interviews will be held in August 2026. For more information, visit www.sglobelab.com or KU Leuven Earth and Environmental Sciences.