Research Associate/Post-Doctoral Fellow

Job Description:

Ngāi Tahu Research Centre
Located in Ōtautahi | Christchurch, Aotearoa | New Zealand

• Full-time 37.5 hours per week (1.0 FTE)
• Fixed term – Two years

Kia hiwa rā, kia hiwa rā! He hiahia, he pūkenga nōu ki te mahi a te Research Associate/Postdoctoral Fellow? Nāia te pōwhiri nā Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha kia tono mai i te tūranga nei.

Āu Mahi | What You Will Do
We are seeking a Research Associate/Postdoctoral Fellow to lead research on the social, cultural, and economic dimensions of enhanced rock weathering (ERW), with a primary focus on iwi and Māori landowner perspectives. Within this programme, ERW involves the application of crushed rock (such as dunite or basalt) to farmland, where the rock undergoes accelerated weathering processes that remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

This position is based at the Ngāi Tahu Research Centre (NTRC) at the University of Canterbury and forms part of the Megatonne Carbon Removal Programme, a multidisciplinary initiative exploring scalable carbon removal approaches, including enhanced rock weathering (ERW), geothermal systems, and low-carbon concrete. The successful candidate will focus specifically on ERW.

The role centres on understanding how ERW aligns with Māori values, aspirations, and development pathways, including both opportunities and constraints, and supporting potential Māori leadership in the developing carbon removal industry.

The successful candidate will:

• Lead engagement with Māori communities
• Work with iwi and Māori landowners to explore perspectives on ERW
• Facilitate interviews, hui, and/or wānanga to understand opportunities, concerns, and priorities
• Ensure research is conducted in a culturally appropriate, ethical, and partnership-based manner
• Assess cultural and social acceptability
• Examine how ERW aligns with Māori values and land-use aspirations
• Identify perceived risks, benefits, and areas of tension
• Evaluate Māori development opportunities
• Explore potential roles for Māori across ERW value chains (e.g. resource development, land application)
• Assess opportunities for Māori agribusiness and circular economy models
• Analyse system-level implications
• Identify environmental, land-use, and community-level implications of ERW deployment
• Contribute to understanding of where and how ERW may be feasible in Aotearoa
• Work across disciplines and programmes
• Collaborate with scientists, engineers, and legal researchers within the programme
• Contribute to integrated assessments of feasibility and implementation pathways.

The research will use a mixed-methods approach, with an emphasis on engaged and collaborative research, including:

• Interviews and hui with Māori stakeholders
• Case study research with partner rūnanga
• Qualitative and systems-level analysis
• Quantitative surveys
• Spatial or economic analysis where appropriate, or in collaboration with team members.

Mōu | Who You Are
We welcome applicants from fields such as human geography, environmental studies, environmental economics, sustainability science, political ecology, or planning. To be successful in this position you will have the following:

• PhD in a relevant discipline
• Strong qualitative research and stakeholder engagement skills
• Ability to work collaboratively in interdisciplinary teams

• Demonstrated experience engaging and working with Māori and/or Indigenous communities (desirable)
• Experience undertaking quantitative surveys (desirable)
• Familiarity with spatial (GIS) or systems analysis (desirable)
• Understanding of economic or value-chain perspectives (desirable)
• Knowledge of climate mitigation or carbon removal approaches (desirable)
• Understanding of Te Tiriti o Waitangi frameworks (desirable).

Mahi Ngātahi | Who You Will Work With
The Ngāi Tahu Research Centre (NTRC) was founded to be a leader in indigenous scholarship and provide a centre for the intellectual capital and development of Ngāi Tahu, the principal Māori iwi of the southern region of New Zealand. A position based within the Ngāi Tahu Research Centre offers:

• strong connections to Māori research and communities
• A central role in a high-impact, multidisciplinary carbon removal programme
• Opportunities to contribute to emerging climate solutions grounded in Aotearoa contexts
• Collaboration across science, engineering, law, economic, and social research.

For more information about our School and team, please visit us here Ngai Tahu Research Centre | UC

Ngā Painga o UC | Why UC
Tangata Tū, Tangata Ora - Engaged, Empowered, Making a Difference.

The University of Canterbury is committed to accessible higher education, service to community and the encouragement of talent without barriers of distance, wealth, class, gender or ethnicity. The University explicitly aims to produce graduates and support staff who are engaged with their communities, empowered to act for good and determined to make a difference in the world.

For more information, please visit: http://www.canterbury.ac.nz/joinus

For more information about Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha | University of Canterbury, please visit www.canterbury.ac.nz

The closing date for this position is: 28 June 2026 (midnight, NZ time)
Applications will be reviewed as they are received, and interviews may take place before the close date.

Pēhea te tono mai | How You Apply
Applications for this position must be submitted on our careers website and should include a cover letter and resume. Please note, we do not accept applications by email, however we are happy to answer your queries in relation to the application process, please forward these to [email protected]

For further information specifically about the role, please contact: Professor John Reid at [email protected] to discuss the opportunities associated with this position.

Appointable salary for a Research Associate will be $64,096 - $74,773 (pa)
Appointable salary for a Postdoctoral Fellow will be $64,096 - $94,000 (pa)

Please note: Candidates whose Doctorate has not yet been formally conferred (including those who have completed all requirements or have submitted and are awaiting conferral), will be appointed under the title “Research Associate”, with remuneration aligned to the Research Associate salary scale noted above. Once the Doctorate has been formally conferred, the title will be updated to “Postdoctoral Fellow” and the salary adjusted accordingly.

For overseas applicants, please visit Immigration New Zealand website, to review the latest health and visa requirements for visiting and working in New Zealand.