Frederic Jacob

Background

About Frederic Jacob

Context IRD's primary mission is to conduct scientific research focused on the intertropical and Mediterranean regions, by fostering equitable scientific cooperation with the academic and research communities in the countries/regions concerned. This mission is pursued through two main objectives: to contribute to the advancement of scientific knowledge on sustainable development, and to improve the scientific basis of development policies. Profile Research coordination in the field of agricultural water management within semi-arid regions- Merging complementary skills on long term scientific challenges and short-term science frontiers- Contributing to the emergence and nurture of scientific networks in the Mediterranean Area- Contributing to the initiation and support of development actions with stakeholders. Overview of research activities - As a coordinator, my research revolves around water resource management in semi-arid agricultural systems. This involves studying the structures, functioning, and evolutionary pathways of these systems, including both biophysical and socioeconomic factors. The focus is on agricultural spatial planning to balance trade-offs between ecosystem services- As a contributor, my research focuses on - studying crop water consumption under challenging conditions such as discontinuous canopies, hilly topographies and heterogeneous landscapes; and - studying the coupling between crop functioning and surface hydrology, using numerical simulations based on integrated modeling platforms, with emphasis on the use of in-situ and remotely sensed data together with parsimonious models for spatialisation purposes. Overview of experience - Leadership - deputy director of LISAH Joint Research Unit - codirector of the NAILA International Joint Laboratory - Coordination of international contract projects - large scale: EU PRIMA, ANR TRANSMED - medium scale: CNRS-INSU, CNES-TOSCA, Agropolis foundation - Steering international collaborations, including acting representative for IRD in Tunisia - Proposal evaluation and project auditing for EU H2020 and EU HE - Design of satellite missions: scientific committee memberships for CNES, NASA and ISRO - Editing for Geoscience and Remote Sensing Society (GRSL, IGARSS, M2GARSS)- Supervising: postdoctoral researchers (9), PhD students (9), contract engineers (7) & MSc students (17)- Publishing: 96 items (peer reviewed articles, book chapters, white books)- Teaching: module management and course delivery at B.Sc, M.Sc. & Ph.D. levels