Part-time (0.4 FTE), fixed term until March 2025

£28,762 - £38,592 pro rata per annum

The Centre for Agroecology, Water and Resilience is looking for a Part-time Research Assistant to work on 'Growing Connections: innovations in community tree nursery production' a Forestry Commission funded project.

The Growing Connections project will investigate the potential of alternative, more agroecological approaches to tree production in which many small community nurseries produce a diverse range of locally sourced, locally adapted trees that can meet the demands for planting schemes in their own neighbourhoods. Community tree nurseries may form a small proportion of the tree production sector but their contribution to the diversity of tree stock produced is invaluable.

The UK tree production sector faces a number of challenges in responding to the government’s ambitious target to triple tree planting each year by 2025. Tree planting is popular with the general public, but currently demand for trees outstrips supply. Community tree nurseries are uniquely placed to respond to local demands for sustainably-produced trees, they also provide many social and environmental benefits for their local area.

Growing Connections aims to explore the current contribution of innovative community tree nurseries to the tree production sector, understand barriers currently faced by community tree nurseries in the UK, and identify ways to best support them now and in the future, with a focus on tree procurement by buyers, record keeping and biosecurity.

The project follows a mixed methods approach and we are looking for an RA with experience of using both quantitative and qualitative methodologies. The postholder should have a good degree in a subject related to community tree production such as horticulture, plant health, or biology and ideally experience of working in a related field such as tree or nursery production, community self-organisation, or sustainable production methods.

The Research Assistant will be involved in all aspects of the Growing Connections project and duties will include:

• Supporting project management activities.
• Assisting with the preparation and delivery of questionnaires, focus groups and interviews.
• Maintaining field trials and collecting experimental data.
• Contributing to desk studies.
• Organising stakeholder events.
• Participating in dissemination activities, e.g. managing and updating social media accounts, producing content for newsletters, and supporting website updates.
• Supporting the production of research outputs including; preparing and contributing to presentations, videos, workshops, seminars and peer-reviewed papers.
• Producing summary reports for stakeholders and funders (with guidance)

This post is fixed term until 27 March 2025. For informal enquiries contact: Dr Liz Trenchard liz.trenchard@coventry.ac.uk