Post Doctoral Associate - Monitoring Climate Change Propaganda on Social Media

The University of Miami is seeking a full-time Post Doctoral Associate for the Climate Accountability Lab to monitor climate change propaganda on social media. The role involves analyzing climate narratives, countering disinformation, and collaborating with various organizations. Candidates should have a PhD in relevant fields and skills in data analysis, machine learning, and website development. The position offers a competitive salary and benefits, with potential for professional growth.
About the position

The Climate Accountability Lab at the University of Miami's Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science is seeking a full-time Post Doctoral Associate to engage in a critical project focused on monitoring climate change propaganda on social media. This position is funded and aims to systematically analyze climate narratives across major social media platforms, particularly in the context of countering climate disinformation and propaganda. The researcher will be part of a collaborative team that includes graduate and postgraduate colleagues, as well as partnerships with computer scientists at the Algorithmic Transparency Institute and other academic and non-profit organizations. The role involves computationally tracking climate change discourse on social media and other digital platforms, an area that has seen significant corporate investment in political advertising, notably by ExxonMobil between 2018 and 2020. Despite the importance of this topic, it has not received adequate systematic attention, making this research both timely and necessary. The successful candidate will contribute to data collection, analysis, academic reporting, website development, and public outreach efforts aimed at increasing awareness and understanding of climate change narratives. Candidates should possess strong capabilities in relevant research methods, which may include social network analysis, statistical analysis, open-ended data mining, applied machine learning (including Natural Language Processing and image recognition), interactive data visualization, and website development. Effective teamwork and communication skills are essential, and while experience in investigating social media, disinformation, or climate change politics is ideal, it is not strictly required. The position offers an opportunity for professional growth, with the potential for extension and promotion to a permanent, non-tenured research staff role based on exceptional performance.

Responsibilities
• Analyze past and present climate narratives across major social media platforms.
,
• Counter climate disinformation and propaganda through systematic research.
,
• Collaborate with computer scientists and other organizations on data collection and analysis.
,
• Engage in academic reporting and public outreach related to climate change discourse.
,
• Develop interactive data visualizations and contribute to website development.

Requirements
• PhD or equivalent in computational social science, applied data science, computer science, or related fields.
,
• Strong capabilities in social network analysis, statistical analysis, and open-ended data mining.
,
• Experience with applied machine learning techniques, including Natural Language Processing and image recognition.
,
• Proficiency in interactive data visualization and website development.
,
• Effective teamwork and communication skills.

Nice-to-haves
• Experience investigating social media and disinformation.
,
• Familiarity with climate change politics or communication.

Benefits
• Medical insurance
,
• Dental insurance
,
• Tuition remission
,
• Competitive salary of $70,000 per year