Environmental Social Science and Economics of Coastal Restoration

Organization
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Reference Code
EPA-ORD-NHEERL-AED-2019-07
How to Apply

A complete application consists of:

All documents must be in English or include an official English translation.

If you have questions, send an email to EPArpp@orau.org.  Please include the reference code for this opportunity in your email.

Application Deadline
12/2/2019 3:00:00 PM Eastern Time Zone
Description

*Applications will be reviewed on a rolling-basis.

A research opportunity is available at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Office of Research and Development (ORD), National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory (NHEERL), Atlantic Ecology Division (AED) in Narragansett, Rhode Island.

The research participant will have the opportunity to be involved in research investigating coastal restoration efforts in southern New England. The research will focus on the human dimensions of the use of restoration efforts to improve water quality and provide ecosystem services. The research participant may develop and apply quantitative, spatial, and/or qualitative approaches to support management decisions. The research participant will have the opportunity to collaborate with ecologists and economists to produce transferable and scalable social, economic, and ecological values and methods.

With guidance from their mentor, the research participant will have the opportunity to be involved in developing, managing, and analyzing spatial datasets, engaging stakeholders and analyzing and reporting on participatory research efforts, collaborating on scientific writing or presentations, and implementing case study evaluations of coastal restoration efforts. This is an opportunity to learn about the social and ecological impacts of coastal restoration efforts and to apply data from multiple disciplines for improving decision making.

The research participant will have the opportunity to learn through interactions with individuals and teams involved with other cross-cutting human/environment projects at AED and other EPA divisions. With guidance from the mentor, the research participant will have latitude in exercising independent initiative and judgment in the research commensurate with the level of training. The research participant will have the opportunity to collaborate with EPA Regions, researchers, states, and local stakeholders to improve EPA's abilities in generating and translating decision-relevant social and ecological data to end-users.

The research participant will have the opportunity to attend research team meetings and be involved in all aspects of the research. This may include active engagement with stakeholders regarding applications of the research. There will be opportunities to develop and conduct projects within the overall research program, and to publish and present research.

The mentor for this opportunity is Nate Merrill (Merrill.Nathaniel@epa.gov).

This program, administered by ORAU through its contract with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to manage the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE), was established through an interagency agreement between DOE and EPA. The initial appointment is for one year, but may be renewed upon recommendation of EPA and is contingent on the availability of funds. The participant will receive a monthly stipend commensurate with educational level and experience. Proof of health insurance is required for participation in this program. The appointment is full-time at EPA in the Narragansett, Rhode Island, area. Participants do not become employees of EPA, DOE or the program administrator, and there are no employment-related benefits. 

Qualifications

The qualified candidate should have received a master's degree in one of the relevant fields, or be currently pursuing the degree and will reach completion by November 1, 2019. Degree must have been received within five years of the appointment start date.

Preferred skills:

  • Qualitative and quantitative data management and analysis, including:
    • NVivo or other qualitative software
    • Geographic Information System (GIS) data management, analysis and mapping
    • statistical analysis and scripting using R, Python and/or Stata
  • Strong writing skills and record keeping 
  • Prior experience with environmental restoration
Eligibility Requirements
  • Degree: Master's Degree received within the last 60 months or anticipated to be received by 11/1/2019 11:59:00 PM.
  • Discipline(s):
    • Earth and Geosciences (1 )
    • Environmental and Marine Sciences (4 )
    • Other Non-Science & Engineering (1 )
    • Social and Behavioral Sciences (11 )
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