Research Associate or Research Scientist - Ag. Economics and Remote Sensing

About the role

The Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics at Virginia Tech, led by Dr. Elinor Benami, seeks a Research Associate or Scientist to join an interdisciplinary research team focusing on agricultural economics, remote sensing, and insurance and finance. The position is renewable annually and involves conducting research, contributing to manuscripts, and engaging with policy and industry partners.

Responsibilities

• Supports research efforts using geospatial and administrative data
• Applies statistical approaches to analyze data and generate visualizations
• Prepares manuscripts for submission to peer-reviewed journals
• Presents findings to academic and practitioner audiences
• Engages with policy and industry partners
• Contributes to grant development

Requirements

• Master's degree in agricultural economics, applied economics, or related quantitative field, or equivalent experience
• Strong written and oral communication skills
• Experience with data analysis in R, Python, or similar language using version control
• Experience evaluating the economic and policy implications of agricultural monitoring techniques, preferably using remotely sensed data

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with econometric methods applied to administrative or observational data
• Familiarity with geospatial analysis and remote sensing data, including cloud platforms like Google Earth Engine
• Experience in one or more of the team's areas: agricultural/index insurance, risk transfer, conservation agriculture, land markets, or rural finance

Qualifications

• PhD in agricultural economics, applied economics, or related quantitative field with relevant research experience
• Strong written and oral communication skills
• Experience with data analysis in R, Python, or similar language using version control
• Experience evaluating the economic and policy implications of agricultural monitoring techniques, preferably using remotely sensed data

Benefits

Not specified

Schedule

Full-time, 40 hours per week, Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Pay

$57,783 - $89,412 (dependent upon rank)