The mission
Carbon that leaves the soil the year a farmer stops was never really stored.
Furrow has measured 1.8 extra tonnes of carbon per hectare each year on 4,100 Rift Valley plots. Whether it stays after farmers stop is the first thing carbon buyers ask. This role answers it.
- Climate · soil carbon
- Soil biogeochemistry × Long-term field trials
- Senior · 7+ years
- On-site in Nakuru
- Full-time
- Closes 4 Dec
Senior Soil Scientist
Furrow Institute · Nakuru, on-site · $70–90k · English + Swahili
or
Your part in it
- DESIGN
- the permanence study, and pre-register it before the first core.
- SAMPLE
- with the field team across 1,200 farms, down to 1 metre.
- PAIR
- with Marcus on power, analysis and every robustness check.
- PUBLISH
- every dataset within 90 days, under CC BY.
- EXPLAIN
- results to farmers first, then to funders and journalists.
- MENTOR
- two junior scientists and three field research assistants.
What success looks like
- DAY 30
- you’ve cored 12 plots yourself and read five seasons of our data.
- DAY 60
- your study plan has been reviewed by Marcus and two outside soil scientists.
- DAY 90
- the plan is public and the first sampling round is booked.
What you’ll need
- A PhD or 7+ years in soil science or biogeochemistry
- Led at least one multi-season field trial
- Comfortable publishing a result you hoped would be different
Nice to have, not required
- Experience with spectroscopy or other low-cost soil methods. Priya will show you ours.
- Swahili or Kalenjin
Where you’ll work
- OFFICE
- Nakuru, on-site. The lab and the soil store are here.
- FIELD
- Njoro, Molo and Rongai plots, two to three days a week in sampling season.
- REMOTE
- Not for this role. The cores are in Nakuru.
- HOURS
- East Africa Time. Field days start at 06:30.
- MAR–MAY
- Long-rains sampling. Weekend field days come back as days off.
Languages
| Language | Need | Why |
|---|---|---|
| English | Required | The lab’s working language, and the language of every paper. |
| Swahili | Nice to have | Most conversations on the farms. We pay for lessons. |
| Kalenjin | Nice to have | Spoken on many Molo and Rongai farms. Ayo’s team translates. |
Where this role takes you
Week 1
You walk the plots.
Three days in Njoro and Molo with Ayo’s field team, coring the plots you’ll be responsible for. Then a day with Marcus going through five seasons of data, one plot at a time.
12plots cored with your own hands
Day 90
You pre-register the permanence study.
Design the study that follows 1,200 farms after they stop cover cropping: which plots, how deep, how often. Marcus checks the power calculation, and the plan goes public before any sample is taken.
1,200farms in the permanence study
Year 1
The first after-stopping cores come back.
Two seasons of samples from farms that stopped. You publish what they show within 90 days, with Sarah, even if the carbon is leaving.
90days from sample to open data
2030
Buyers pay for carbon that stays.
Furrow’s goal is a carbon payment that 10,000 Rift Valley farms can trust. Your permanence estimate decides how much each tonne is worth.
10,000farms with a durable carbon estimate
Meet the crew. There's a seat for you.
- You?This seatSenior Soil Scientist
Daniel Kim · Research director, your manager
“I’ll give you the question nobody wants answered. If the carbon leaves, we say so in the abstract.”
On a bad day: rereads the pre-registration out loud until someone finds the hole.
The essentials
Senior Soil Scientist · Furrow Institute
- Salary
- $70–90k
- Where
- Nakuru, on-site
- Leave
- 30 days + Christmas week
- Visa
- Kenyan work permit sponsored
How you'll interview · about 3 weeks
- 1 · 30-min call with Daniel
- 2 · Critique one of our pre-registrations (paid)
- 3 · Meet the lab
- 4 · A morning on the Njoro plots
Your first stop
The Njoro plots, coring with Ayo
Not ready to apply? Talk to Daniel for 15 minutes.
No CV needed. Ask about the work, the people, or what a hard week looks like.