Salary: Salary is commensurate with education and experience.

Closing Info: Open Until Filled

See full details at https://uwhires.admin.washington.edu/eng/candidates/default.cfm?szCategory=jobprofile&szOrderID=194039&szCandidateID=0&szReturnToSearch=1

As a UW employee, you have a unique opportunity to change lives on our campuses, in our state and around the world. UW employees offer their boundless energy, creative problem solving skills and dedication to build stronger minds and a healthier world.

UW faculty and staff also enjoy outstanding benefits, professional growth opportunities and unique resources in an environment noted for diversity, intellectual excitement, artistic pursuits and natural beauty.

The Climate Impacts Group (CIG) seeks a full-time Frontline Community Climate Resilience Scientist to provide thought leadership and coordination across the academic and community-facing partners of a climate justice focused research collaborative. The Frontline Community Climate Resilience Scientist will have a unique opportunity to advance the theory and practice of climate services provision to frontline communities, working collaboratively with Native American tribes, rural communities and communities of color. In addition to playing a key role in the CIG’s flagship climate justice research program, the Frontline Community Climate Resilience Scientist will join the other Principal Investigators at the CIG in the coproduction of climate impacts and adaptation science, participating at a strategic level within the CIG and pursuing other research opportunities related to environmental and climate justice.

The Frontline Community Climate Resilience Scientist will work as a team with the CIG’s Program Integration Specialist, acting as primary point of contact and resource for promoting equitable and effective partnership among our research collaborative’s researchers (based in the CIG, Headwaters Economics, Idaho State University, Portland State University, Washington Sea Grant, and Washington State University), its community-facing partners (including the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians, American Farmland Trust, and Front and Centered) and frontline communities themselves as appropriate.

Candidates must be passionate about climate justice and scientific co-production. We are seeking a candidate who can network and build trust across diverse communities (e.g., Native American tribes as well as rural farmers; urban communities of color as well as academic researchers), while also garnering funding to support a research portfolio aimed at supporting adaptation in these communities. While relevant educational attainment is valued, we also encourage applications from practitioners who bring on-the-ground experience from work in government, non-profits, consulting and community-based organizations.

Background:

The CIG’s flagship climate justice research program is a participatory research program designed to support communities on the frontlines of climate change in pursuing their own resilience objectives while ensuring that local and place-based innovations and needs are scaled out and up to advance resilience more broadly. Our central research question — How can science-based evidence assist frontline communities in improving their resilience to climate change, while addressing the legacy of systemic inequity that continues to influence their lives and livelihoods? — will be addressed through a program of research, engagement and evaluation designed to advance diversity, equity, inclusion and justice. Focal communities include coastal tribes and rural communities, but we intend to engage a broad range of frontline communities to ensure that lessons learned can be scaled out to other frontline communities and up to state and federal efforts to support climate resilience. The proposed work will lead to (1) significant advances in the theory and practice of advancing climate resilience in frontline communities; (2) evidence and models for effectively elevating community-driven approaches to climate resilience; (3) centering climate justice and frontline communities within the scientific enterprise; and (4) enhanced diversity and inclusion in regional climate sciences and services.

The CIG is dedicated to building the climate resilience of communities and natural systems by advancing awareness of climate risks and enabling science-based action to manage those risks. We are an interdisciplinary team with an operating model that fully integrates research with outreach and stakeholder engagement. Our work considers climate impacts at spatial scales ranging from local communities to the entire western U.S. region, with most of the work focused on the Pacific Northwest (http://cig.uw.edu). The CIG is a member organization of EarthLab.

EarthLab is a visionary institute that pushes boundaries to address our most pressing environmental challenges, with a current focus on climate and its intersection with social justice. EarthLab does this by connecting the University of Washington (UW) to communities, businesses, non-profits, public agencies, Tribal nations and others to co-produce actionable research that generates solutions and strategies for local and global impact. EarthLab’s vision, an equitable, just and sustainable world where people and planet thrive, supports one of the University’s biggest goals. As a Carnegie-classified Community Engagement University, the UW aspires to be the #1 university in the world as measured by impact. EarthLab is inspired by and committed to this challenge.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion:

EarthLab and the CIG acknowledge the systemic racism that exists in the environmental sector and within environmentalism. We believe every member on our team enriches our diversity by bringing a broad range of ways to understand and engage with the world, identify challenges, and to discover, design and deliver solutions. We are seeking candidates who are committed to creating an equitable, diverse and inclusive work environment where all voices are considered and valued.

About UW:

The University of Washington is located in the greater Seattle metropolitan area, with a dynamic, multicultural community of 3.7 million people and a range of ecosystems from mountains to ocean. The UW acknowledges the Coast Salish peoples of this land, the land which touches the shared waters of all tribes and bands within the Suquamish, Tulalip and Muckleshoot nations. The UW serves a diverse population of 80,000 students, faculty and staff, including 25% first-generation college students, over 25% Pell Grant students, and faculty from more than 70 countries. As a UW employee, you will enjoy generous benefits and work/life programs. For detailed information on Benefits for this position, click here.

Position complexities:

We are looking for a candidate who has experience working across a diverse range of communities on issues related to climate change and environmental justice. In addition to having a working knowledge of climate change impacts and adaptation, the successful applicant will need to be able to network and develop trusting relationships with a diverse range of frontline communities, especially tribal communities, rural communities and communities of color. Concurrently this position will need to network and build relationships with academic partners committed to furthering climate justice through their work.

This position will require effective networking among a complex set of academic partners based in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Montana. These academic researchers will have substantive specialties ranging from the physical and natural sciences to the social and policy sciences. The ability to understand and find connections across these diverse fields of knowledge is crucial.

We hope to attract a candidate who is passionate about advancing climate justice, co-producing actionable science and engaging on the topic of climate change impacts and adaptation. This position is primarily intended to make a difference on the ground, which may come at the expense of opportunities to pursue published research at a pace typical of less applied academic positions. While this position will be fully funded initially, fundraising to support climate justice research at the CIG will become an important responsibility of this position in out-years. This is a full-time research position with no teaching expectations and no path to University tenure.

Position Responsibilities:

The Frontline Community Climate Resilience Scientist will play a leading role in making the CIG’s flagship climate justice research program successful in its mission of centering climate justice and frontline communities in the development and delivery of climate services. This will require both a breadth of knowledge of all the moving parts of the research program, but also deep dives into specific efforts that require particular attention to make the scientific and community-based relationships productive. The Frontline Community Climate Resilience Scientist will need to work closely with the research program’s Leadership Team, Frontline Community Committee, and Research Leads for three project portfolios: Tribal Coastal Resilience, Rural Resilience, and Scaling Resilience.

This position will act as a hub of the CIG’s flagship climate justice research program network, understanding and touching on everything that the program does; making connections where needed to advance the program’s mission; and providing feedback to the program’s Leadership Team, Frontline Community Committee and Research Leads to identify opportunities for cross-community and cross-portfolio learning. The nature of this position is likely to evolve as the program itself evolves. This position will play a leading role in helping to translate the vision of the Leadership Team and the Frontline Community Committee into operational practice across the program research portfolios in collaboration with the three Research Leads and the Evaluation Lead.

Research and Synthesis [60%]

Engage across the three research program project portfolios and specific projects to advance the theory and practice of climate justice and climate services provision to frontline communities;
Work with the research program evaluation lead to develop and implement monitoring, evaluation and reporting protocols;
Identify potentially fruitful and relevant projects that meet the emerging needs of stakeholders and frontline communities while leveraging the strengths of the Climate Impacts Group, EarthLab and UW;
Facilitate the successful development and implementation of research collaborations among an interdisciplinary network of scholars and regional practitioners;
Conduct interdisciplinary, applied research on matters of relevance to climate resilience, climate justice and of interest to PNW stakeholders – especially underserved and underrepresented communities – publishing results in the peer-reviewed literature as well as disseminating through more direct channels.
Contribute to and lead the development of interdisciplinary, user-friendly syntheses of climate impacts science.

Organizational and Research Management [20%]

Work collaboratively with the research program Leadership Team, Frontline Community Committee, Research Leads and Program Integration Specialist to ensure successful implementation of the research program;
Contribute to strategic planning (e.g., help center equity and justice in the CIG’s work, advance the state-of-the-art in both climate impacts science and application to decision making) that promotes the CIG’s mission in alignment with its Theory of Change;
Mentor, coordinate and oversee staff, researchers, and collaborators; direct projects as a principal investigator;
Project design, budget preparation and tracking across staff, establishing teams and partnerships, tracking project progress, interfacing with funders and identifying and resolving issues arising during project execution.

Communications [10%]

Coordinate with Program Integration Specialist on communications with research program partner organizations and communities;
Communicate with the community-facing research program partner organizations, including the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians, the American Farmland Trust, Front and Centered, and possibly others;
Communicate with research partners in the research program, including research staff based in the CIG, Headwaters Economics, Idaho State University, Portland State University, Washington Sea Grant, and Washington State University;
Potentially communicate directly with frontline communities, including rural communities, communities of color, and individual coastal tribes engaged in the research program projects to understand and help integrate research and engagement efforts both for the benefit of those communities, but also similar communities in WA, OR, and ID that may benefit from this work.
Grant writing and reporting [10%]

Develop and submit proposals for research work to generate financial support for climate justice work at the CIG.

As a UW employee, you will enjoy generous benefits and work/life programs. For a complete description of our benefits for this position, please visit our website, click here.

Qualifications:

Required

• Master’s degree or higher in a natural, physical, or social science field or a related field. Bachelor’s degree candidates with exceptional qualifications may be considered;
• At least 4 years of experience engaging frontline communities in environmental, health, climate or other decision-making processes or demonstrated understanding of the connections between environmental justice and racial, climate and health justice;
• Demonstrated cultural competence, leading with curiosity and humility to facilitate relationships across different perspectives, values, knowledge specializations, and geographies;
• Knowledge of or experience in applied climate change impacts and adaptation;
• Experience with community engagement and participatory research;
• Demonstrated ability to communicate complex scientific information in clear and concise language appropriate for diverse audiences (e.g., scientists, community members, decision makers, students, media, etc.);
• Experience evaluating complex social and policy processes and comfort working in complex institutional contexts;
• Experience working in collaborative and diverse teams.

Equivalent education/experience will substitute for all minimum qualifications except when there are legal requirements, such as a license/certification/registration.

Desired

Experience with co-production and use-inspired research;
Experience with complex, multi-organization collaborations;
Social science methodological experience associated with applied social science research (e.g., interview methodologies, literature reviews, policy evaluation).

Application Process:
The application process for UW positions may include completion of a variety of online assessments to obtain additional information that will be used in the evaluation process. These assessments may include Workforce Authorization, Cover Letter and/or others. Any assessments that you need to complete will appear on your screen as soon as you select “Apply to this position”. Once you begin an assessment, it must be completed at that time; if you do not complete the assessment you will be prompted to do so the next time you access your “My Jobs” page. If you select to take it later, it will appear on your “My Jobs” page to take when you are ready. Please note that your application will not be reviewed, and you will not be considered for this position until all required assessments have been completed.

Additional Application Instructions:
Please submit a cover letter and resume/CV. Your cover letter should include 1-2 paragraphs addressing your efforts to engage with frontline communities.

Applicants considered for this position will be required to disclose if they are the subject of any substantiated findings or current investigations related to sexual misconduct at their current employment and past employment. Disclosure is required under Washington state law.