Graha Iskandarsyah 3rd Floor, Jl. Iskandarsyah Raya No.

66C, Jakarta 12160, Indonesia

+62-21-7279 2043, F. +62-21-7279 2044 – www.YKAN.or.id

CALL FOR PROPOSAL: GRADUATE STUDENT RESEARCH

RESEARCH TOPIC Measurement of CO2 Fluxes from Mixed-Agricultural Land using EGM-5
Portable CO2 Gas Analyzer
DATE 20 October 2022

Background Indonesia is a critical hotspot for tropical peatland ecosystems as it is a home to

about one-third of global tropical peatlands (Gumbricht et al., 2017). Tropical
peatland ecosystems provide important roles on providing a broad array of
environmental services, particularly as natural climate solutions (NCS) on storing
a huge amount of carbon required to maintain the global climate conditions
(Page et al., 2011). Nevertheless, the potential of peatlands in climate change
mitigation strategies are often underappreciated, even though they have
contributed to cooling atmospheric temperature for millennia (Leifeld and
Menichetti, 2018). Recent national-scale study conducted by Yayasan
Konservasi Alam Nusantara (YKAN) and collaborators concluded that
Indonesian peatlands have the largest NCS mitigation potential among all other
ecosystems with 960 ± 15.4 MtCO2e yr-1, which is equivalent to ~74% of total
NCS mitigation potential in Indonesia (Novita et al., submitted).
Land cover change and associated drainage have been a major threat for
tropical peatland ecosystems in Indonesia to sustain their role as NCS mitigation
strategies. Currently, more than half of the peat swamp forest in Southeast Asia
has been converted to industrial plantations and smallholder agricultural lands
(Miettinen et al., 2016). For improving the understanding and hence the estimate
of total NCS mitigation potentials from Indonesian peatlands, it is important to
obtain comprehensive emission factors arising from different activities. In
particular, the emissions factors for smallholder agricultural land can vary
considerably as it covers a wide range of vegetation and cropping practices.
More primary research through field measurements is required to document the
CO2 fluxes from different smallholder agriculture practices.
Objective The purpose of this graduate student research position is to collect and analyze
CO2 fluxes data from different agricultural practices (e.g. rubber, oil palm,
pineapple, vegetation crops) in Kubu Raya Regency, West Kalimantan both
within drained and rewetted areas. The measurement will be conducted using
EGM-5 Portable CO2 Gas Analyzer following the guidelines provided by YKAN
and host educational institutions. The student will use this research as their
master thesis.
Scope of • Collecting CO2 fluxes data from different agricultural practices in rewetted
Work and drained areas using EGM-5 Portable CO2 Gas Analyzer in regular basis
following the guidelines provided by YKAN and host educational institutions.
• Process the field data and conduct QA/QC for the CO2 fluxes measurement
according to the highest scientific standards.
• Analyse the CO2 fluxes data to obtain the emission factors for each
agricultural practice.
• Maintain EGM-5 Portable CO2 Gas Analyzer instrument for proper usage.
• Prepare a report and master thesis based on the analysis of CO 2 fluxes and
other relevant parameters from field measurements.
 Graha Iskandarsyah 3rd Floor, Jl. Iskandarsyah Raya No. 66C, Jakarta 12160, Indonesia
+62-21-7279 2043, F. +62-21-7279 2044 – www.YKAN.or.id

Compensation YKAN will provide daily allowance and cover the cost for meals, transportation,
and Benefit and accommodation required for the student to conduct field measurements to
West Kalimantan.
Desired • Master student in Forestry/Agriculture/Environmental Science/Natural
Qualification Resource Management from reputable university.
• Experience working in the field and willingness to travel to site in frequent
basis.
• Experience managing laboratory instruments.
Timeline The research will be carried out from January – June 2023.
Contact Please send your resume and research proposal (including financial
person requirement) to adibtya.asyhari@ykan.or.id before 13 November 2022.
For further information about this project, please refer to this link.
References • Gumbricht, T., Roman‐Cuesta, R. M., Verchot, L., Herold, M., Wittmann, F.,
Householder, E., ... & Murdiyarso, D. (2017). An expert system model for
mapping tropical wetlands and peatlands reveals South America as the
largest contributor. Global change biology, 23(9), 3581-3599.
• Leifeld, J., & Menichetti, L. (2018). The underappreciated potential of
peatlands in global climate change mitigation strategies. Nature
communications, 9(1), 1-7.
• Miettinen, J., Shi, C., & Liew, S. C. (2016). Land cover distribution in the
peatlands of Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra and Borneo in 2015 with changes
since 1990. Global Ecology and Conservation, 6, 67-78.
• Page, S. E., Rieley, J. O., & Banks, C. J. (2011). Global and regional
importance of the tropical peatland carbon pool. Global change
biology, 17(2), 798-818.