Postdoctoral Associate

Job Description

The Department of Agricultural, Leadership, and Community Education (ALCE), in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) at Virginia Tech invites applications for a Postdoctoral Associate - Civic Science Fellow with a focus on food systems resilience, Cooperative Extension, and science-policy collaborations.

Key Responsibilities

• Co-design and lead the implementation of a multi-phase research project examining Extension–local government collaborations, including:
• Literature review on civic science and science–policy engagement
• National survey of Cooperative Extension systems
• Qualitative research (e.g., interviews, case studies)
• Generate original empirical data and analysis on how Extension supports community-informed, science-based decision-making for food systems resilience
• Contribute to the development of a capacity-building program supporting science–policy collaboration within Virginia Cooperative Extension and beyond
• Disseminate findings through peer-reviewed publications, Extension outputs, and presentations to academic and practitioner audiences
• Engage collaboratively with faculty, Extension professionals, community partners, and national networks
• Independently manage and execute a fellowship project aligned with program goals while contributing to broader institutional initiatives

Required Qualifications

• Earned terminal degree in a social sciences discipline such as food systems, agricultural education and/or extension education, community development, life sciences and/or agricultural communication, public policy, geography, sociology, or another position-relevant discipline.
• Degree must be awarded no more than four years prior to the effective date of appointment with a minimum of one year eligibility remaining.
• Experience conducting qualitative research and basic quantitative survey analysis
• Demonstrated ability to engage professionally with diverse populations, including university, Extension, and community-based stakeholders
• Experience working with Cooperative Extension, local governments, or community-based organizations
• Experience working both independently and collaboratively with a high degree of initiative and self-motivation
• Demonstrated ability to independently manage projects, prioritize tasks, and meet deadlines in a dynamic research environment

Preferred Qualifications

• Professional experience in an aspect of civic science such as science-policy engagement, organizational partnerships, community-engaged research, and/or science communication
• Demonstrated experience translating research findings into applied curricular or Extension training resources
• Demonstrated experience publishing professional scholarship, including peer-reviewed publications, grant writing, or other applied and scholarly outputs