Research Engineer Position in Forest Remote Sensing

Department of Forest Resource Management

We are seeking a motivated research engineer with expertise in remote sensing, geospatial analysis, and scientific programming to support research on forest vulnerability under climate change. The position offers the opportunity to work with advanced Earth observation data, reproducible analytical workflows, and interdisciplinary research contributing to both scientific publications and applied forest risk assessment.

About the position

Forests in Sweden are increasingly exposed to interacting forest damage agents and climate-related stressors, including bark beetle outbreaks, drought, heat events and spring frost. This project will develop and validate a spatiotemporal, phenology-aware risk framework for identifying where and when Norway spruce forests are most vulnerable to bark beetle outbreaks under changing climatic conditions. As a research engineer, you will support the project through remote sensing data processing, geospatial analysis, reproducible workflow development and preparation of map products. The work will include satellite time-series analysis for phenology mapping, integration of climate and environmental layers, validation with field, phenocam and UAV/hyperspectral observations, and preparation of data products that can support scientific publications and stakeholder-oriented risk mapping. The position is suitable for a technically skilled person who wants to work at the interface between forest remote sensing, forest damage risk assessment and applied environmental data science.

As a research engineer, your main responsibilities will include:

• Processing, quality-checking and organizing large geospatial and remote sensing datasets, including satellite time series, climate data, forest stand information, topography, soils, and validation data.
• Supporting the derivation of spruce phenology layers, including start-of-season and bud-flush proxies, using Sentinel-2, MODIS and/or other relevant Earth observation datasets.
• Implementing and documenting reproducible workflows for raster/vector processing, time-series analysis, breakpoint detection, map validation and uncertainty assessment.
• Assisting with the integration of phenology layers with bark beetle swarming windows, drought and microclimate variables and forest structure data.
• Contributing to scientific publications by preparing analyses, figures, tables, method descriptions and manuscript text.
• Contributing to project documentation, data management, code repositories and communication material in English.

Your profile

The applicant must have:

• A university degree at Master’s level, or equivalent competence, in remote sensing, GIS/geoinformatics, physical geography, data science, computer science, statistics or another subject relevant to the position.
• Documented experience in processing and analysing satellite data at the national to global level.
• Good programming skills for scientific or geospatial analysis, preferably in Python and/or R.
• Experience with GIS and raster/vector data processing, for example using QGIS, ArcGIS, Google Earth Engine, GDAL, rasterio, xarray, geopandas or comparable tools.
• Ability to work systematically with large datasets, metadata, version-controlled code and reproducible workflows.
• Good written and spoken communication skills in English.
• Ability to work independently, solve technical problems, document work clearly and collaborate effectively in a multidisciplinary research environment.
• Documented scientific publications in peer-reviewed journals relevant to the position.

The following qualifications will be considered merits:

• Experience with satellite time-series analysis for forest dynamics, vegetation index curves, phenology metrics, retrieval of leaf area index, start-of-season detection, or breakpoint/curve-fitting methods.
• Experience with remote sensing applied in forest damage monitoring such as bark beetle disturbance, drought stress, forest health assessment.
• Experience using high-performance computing, cloud processing, containerized workflows, Git/GitHub/GitLab, workflow managers or open reproducible research practices.
• A strong scientific publication record in peer-reviewed international journals, preferably in remote sensing.

About us

The Department of Forest Resource Management conducts education and research in the areas of forest planning, forest remote sensing, forest inventory and sampling, forest mathematical statistics and landscape studies. The department is also responsible for the implementation of the ongoing environmental monitoring programs the National Forest Inventory, National Inventory of the Landscape in Sweden, Terrestrial Habitat Monitoring and the Butterfly and Bumblebee Inventory. In total, we are about 120 employees. 

For more information about the department or division visit: https://www.slu.se/en/about-slu/organisation/departments/forest-resource-management/

Read more about our benefits and working at SLU by visiting: https://www.slu.se/en/about-slu/work-at-slu/

Location:

Umeå

Form of employment:

Fixed-term employment 12 months

Scope:

100%

Start date:

According to agreement, preferably starting in September 2026.

Application:

Please submit your application before deadline 15 July 2026. You can submit your application by clicking the button below.

The application should contain the following written in English:

1) a CV including contact information of three references, 2) a statement of your scientific interests and experiences and motivation for this position, and 3) copy of degree.

Union representatives:

https://internt.slu.se/en/my-employment/employee-associations/kontaktpersoner-vid-rekrytering/

 

The Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) has a key role in the development for sustainable life, based on science and education. Through our focus on the interaction between humans, animals and ecosystems and the responsible use of natural resources, we contribute to sustainable societal development and good living conditions on our planet. Our main campuses are located in Alnarp, Umeå and Uppsala, however, the university also operates at research stations, experimental forests and teaching sites throughout Sweden. SLU has around 4,000 employees, 6,000 students and doctoral students and a turnover of over SEK 4,5 billion. We are investing in attractive environments on all of our campuses. We strive to provide a work environment characterised by inclusivity and gender equality, where different experiences generate conversations between people and pave the way for science, creativity and development. Therefore, we welcome applications from people with diverse backgrounds and perspectives.