Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Climate Migration and Urban Modeling

The University of Michigan is seeking a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Climate Migration and Urban Modeling to work on a project focused on climate adaptation strategies for vulnerable communities. The role involves urban modeling, stakeholder engagement, and research on climate change impacts on human mobility. The position requires a PhD in a relevant field and offers collaboration with multidisciplinary teams. Initial appointment is for 12 months with potential renewal.
About the position

The School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS) at the University of Michigan is seeking applications for a postdoctoral research position focused on climate migration and urban modeling. This role will involve applying urban modeling and stakeholder engagement approaches to study the impacts of climate migration, particularly in vulnerable communities. The successful candidate will work under the mentorship of Dr. Derek Van Berkel and Dr. Maria Carmen Lemos on a National Science Foundation (NSF) project titled Climate Adaptation and Resilience Strategies (CLARS). This project aims to develop collaborative adaptation strategies for climate migrants and host communities across urban settings in the Lake Victoria Basin (LVB) and Great Lakes Region (GLR). The position will leverage existing online public participatory GIS software and will be integrated into the Great Lakes Integrated Sciences and Assessments (GLISA) program, which is part of NOAA's Climate Adaptation Partnerships/Regional Integrated Sciences and Assessments (CAP/RISA) team. GLISA operates at the intersection of climate science and decision-making, with a mission to enhance the capacity of Great Lakes communities to understand, plan for, and respond to climate impacts both now and in the future. The initial appointment for this position will be for 12 months, with the possibility of renewal based on performance. The postdoctoral fellow will be responsible for developing land change modeling, scenarios, and computational data science methods to analyze and interpret regional trajectories in the Great Lakes and Lake Victoria Basin. The role will also involve conducting research on the impacts of climate change on human mobility, with a specific focus on urban modeling and climate migration. Collaboration with multidisciplinary teams in both the LVB and GLR will be essential to develop and implement effective climate adaptation strategies. Additionally, the fellow will support engagement with key stakeholders and community partners to create frameworks for climate migrants and build resilient communities. The position will also require preparing research findings for conference presentations and peer-reviewed journal articles.

Responsibilities
• Develop land change modeling, scenarios, and computational data science methods to analyze and interpret regional trajectories in the Great Lakes and Lake Victoria Basin.
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• Conduct research on the impacts of climate change on human mobility, focusing on urban modeling and climate migration.
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• Collaborate with multidisciplinary teams in both the Lake Victoria Basin and Great Lakes Region to develop and implement climate adaptation strategies.
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• Support engagement with key stakeholders and community partners to create frameworks for climate migrants and build resilient communities.
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• Prepare research findings for conference presentations and peer-reviewed journal articles.

Requirements
• PhD in geography, data science, statistics, or a related field.
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• Strong communication skills and the ability to work both independently and as part of a team.
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• Strong qualitative and quantitative analysis background.
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• Experience in stakeholder engagement.
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• Demonstrated success in publishing refereed journal articles.
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• Interest in applying AI methods to environmental and sustainability issues.

Nice-to-haves

Benefits