Postdoctoral Associate, Institute for Global Sustainability

About The Opportunity

The CELT Initiative at the BU Institute for Global Sustainability provides a collaborative research environment committed to addressing global sustainability challenges. Postdoctoral researchers have opportunities to work alongside recognized faculty, engage with government and industry partners, publish high-impact research in leading academic journals, and contribute to solutions that improve the health, affordability, resilience, and sustainability of energy systems. This is an excellent opportunity for an early-career researcher seeking to build expertise at the intersection of energy, environment, public health, data science, and policy.

Responsibilities

• Conduct interdisciplinary research examining relationships between energy systems, air quality, climate change, public health, and energy affordability
• Analyze large and complex environmental, health, demographic, emissions, energy, utility, socioeconomic, and market datasets using advanced statistical and computational methods
• Quantify health impacts of energy production and consumption, including exposure to air pollutants, greenhouse gas emissions, and climate-related hazards
• Evaluate public health co-benefits and equity outcomes of clean energy technologies, electrification, renewable energy deployment, and emissions reduction strategies
• Conduct quantitative analyses of energy affordability and energy burden using large-scale datasets from utilities, government agencies, and research partners
• Clean, integrate, and manage diverse datasets, ensuring high standards of data quality, reproducibility, and scientific rigor
• Develop, refine, and work on models to identify drivers of energy burden, health impacts, and evaluate clean energy interventions
• Integrate data from environmental monitoring networks, satellite observations, health surveillance systems, energy models, utility systems, and geospatial databases
• Prepare scientific manuscripts, technical reports, policy briefs, and presentations for academic, government, and industry audiences
• Collaborate with multidisciplinary teams and stakeholder groups
• Present research findings at scientific conferences and stakeholder workshops

Requirements

• PhD degree in Public Health, Environmental Health, Epidemiology, Environmental Science, Data Science, Statistics, Economics, Engineering, Energy Systems, Applied Mathematics, Geography, Computer Science, or a closely related quantitative discipline
• Demonstrated experience conducting quantitative research using large and complex datasets
• Strong programming skills in Python, R, or equivalent analytical software
• Experience applying statistical analysis, epidemiological methods, machine learning, predictive modeling, or other advanced quantitative techniques
• Familiarity with data visualization, reproducible research practices, and scientific computing
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including scientific writing and publication
• Demonstrated ability to work independently and collaboratively within multidisciplinary research teams

Preferred Qualifications

• Knowledge of energy systems, electricity generation, transportation electrification, renewable energy technologies, or energy policy
• Experience with energy affordability, energy burden, or energy justice research
• Experience with environmental epidemiology, exposure assessment, health impact assessment, or climate and health research
• Familiarity with air quality datasets, emissions inventories, atmospheric modeling outputs, or satellite-derived environmental data
• Experience working with utility, electricity market, socioeconomic, or census datasets
• Experience with GIS and spatial analysis, cloud computing, or high-performance computing environments
• Familiarity with environmental justice, health equity, and community-based research approaches

Skills and Competencies

• Strong quantitative and analytical problem-solving abilities
• Advanced attention to detail and commitment to research quality
• Knowledge of public health, statistical, and econometric research methods
• Ability to integrate diverse environmental, health, energy, and socioeconomic datasets
• Excellent scientific communication skills for technical and non-technical audiences
• Strong project management and organizational skills
• Collaborative approach to interdisciplinary and cross-sector research
• Intellectual curiosity and commitment to impactful sustainability research

Pay

Expected hiring range: $67,500.00 – $70,000.00. The salary of the finalist selected for this role will be set based on a variety of factors, including but not limited to departmental budgets, qualifications, experience, education, licenses, specialty, training, and internal pay comparison.

Schedule

Full-Time/Regular