Post Doctoral Associate -Rural Economic Resilience & Food Systems

About the role

The Postdoctoral Associate will conduct applied economic and community-engaged research jointly supporting two related research programs under the supervision of Dr. Andrew Van Leuven.

Research focus

• 60% effort: NSF EPSCoR project on rural climate resilience, examining how severe weather, extreme heat, and harmful algal blooms affect rural labor markets, downtown business activity, and recreation economies
• 40% effort: UVM Food Systems Research Institute-funded work examining climate effects on rural food business dynamics (e.g., restaurant and grocery entries and exits) and rural food systems infrastructure, building on ongoing FSRI-supported research

Responsibilities

• Leading in-person and virtual interviews with New England business owners, municipal officials, and consumers
• Conducting causal-inference analysis of high-frequency foot-traffic, consumer-spending, and satellite-derived environmental data
• Contributing to manuscript preparation, presentations, and public-facing outputs

Minimum qualifications

• PhD completed by the January 1, 2027 start date in economics, applied/agricultural economics, regional science, public policy, or a closely related quantitative social science field
• Demonstrated quantitative/econometric skills, ideally including causal inference or panel-data methods
• Programming proficiency in R, Python, and/or Stata
• Strong written and verbal communication skills
• Ability to work both independently and collaboratively across institutions

Desirable qualifications

• Research experience or strong interest in rural economic development, climate resilience, and/or food systems
• Experience conducting qualitative or community-engaged interviews
• Data visualization and GIS skills
• Familiarity with high-frequency mobility/spending data (e.g., Advan, SafeGraph) or satellite-derived environmental data

Pay

$63,480 - $63,900

Schedule and location

• Hybrid and remote candidates considered; search not limited to candidates already based in Burlington
• Must be able to travel to Burlington, VT at least four times during the year for team meetings, plus additional periodic travel across New England for interview-based fieldwork
• Candidates able to work in person at UVM on a more regular basis (i.e., within driving or transit distance) are preferred, all else equal
• Position expected to begin work from an approved U.S. location on January 1, 2027

Application materials

• CV
• Cover letter describing your fit with the position and research interests
• Writing sample
• Contact information for two to three professional references

Applications close September 18, 2026. Questions? Contact Dr. Andrew Van Leuven at andrew.vanleuven@uvm.edu.