Working with IonE’s Environmental Decision Support Science team, NOAA, and partners across the U.S. you will engage with decision support users, refine diagnostic tools, and conduct research on visualizations and user-controlled decision support systems to increase the ability of individuals and communities to use these knowledge products for early warning and longer-term adaptation. Knowledge of qualitative and/or quantitative social science methods required. 

PI: Melissa Kenney

Working with a team across UMN, Tribal Colleges and Universities, Minority Serving Institutions, and local high schools you would support programs to increase opportunities for students who have been historically excluded from sustainability and data science fields. You would lead evaluative research into the effectiveness of programmatic mechanisms and student outcomes. Experience or interest in science education, student mentoring, social science or evaluation research methods, and/or diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice. 

PI: Melissa Kenney

Working with the Midwest Climate Adaptation Science Center and USGS, collaborate on projects focused on climate change in ecosystems, the design of strategies to reduce those impacts, and synthesis research on adaptation that spans the Midwest region. Requires collaboration with natural resource practitioners or managers. Minnesota residence is required.

PI: Jessica Hellmann

This project centers partnership development to co-produce data products and indicators to support climate adaptation actions. Knowledge of qualitative and/or quantitative social science methods and collaboration with regional partners and environmental justice communities  is required. Because of the significant local community engagement required by this position, Minnesota residence is required.

PI: Melissa Kenney

You will conduct translational science and enable collaborative projects with community organizations and the Midwest Carbon Leadership Project, a platform for collaboration between industry and academia to address critical knowledge barriers to aggressive emissions reductions. Diverse disciplinary background welcome; experience or interest in the use of diverse social science methodologies, science communication, and project coordination is particularly desirable.

PIs: Jessica Hellmann & Melissa Kenney

You will conduct synthesis and translational science to reduce carbon reduction as part of IonE’s energy transition research portfolio conducted with community organizations. Diverse disciplinary background welcome; experience or interest in social science, policy analysis, and/or clean energy futures is particularly desirable.

PIs: Jessica Hellmann & Melissa Kenney

You will lead the framework and development of qualitative and quantitative metrics to evaluate societal impact of a portfolio of research projects and programs. This would include engagement with both UMN researchers and community partners. Experience in social science or evaluation research methods and/or community-based participatory research is particularly desirable. Minnesota residence is required.

PI: Melissa Kenney

As part of a diverse team of researchers and extension specialists across the U.S. you will support the evaluation of an agricultural ecological forecasting system called the Dashboard for Agricultural Water use and Nutrient management (DAWN). You will develop and deploy different testable information interventions to understand forecast use and value for on-farm decisions. You will develop science communication skills through monthly translation of DAWN predictions to diverse audiences of corn producers. Experience in extension, diverse social science methodologies, decision support, sustainable food systems, and/or agricultural crop systems are particularly desirable. Minnesota residence is required.

PI: Melissa Kenney

Focused on Minnesota and the Upper Mississippi River basin, this project centers partnership development to co-produce and advance climate adaptation actions and environmental management. Knowledge of qualitative and/or quantitative social science methods and collaboration with regional partners and environmental justice communities is required. Minnesota residence is required.

PI: Melissa Kenney

In collaboration with an interdisciplinary UMN research team, you conduct a needs assessment by engaging diverse partners including public, private, and non-governmental sector representatives and residents of Minnesota. You will extend the gap analysis through a systematic review of the literature to assess clean water priorities and needs. Diverse disciplinary backgrounds welcome; experience or interest in systematic literature reviews, stakeholder engagement, socio-environmental synthesis, and/or water resource management is particularly desirable. Minnesota residence is required.

PI: Melissa Kenney, Andy Erickson, & Mae Davenport

Working with the Midwest Climate Adaptation Science Center and USGS, you will explore the intersection of Tribal natural resource management, the uptake of adaptation in Tribal management planning, the leadership offered by Tribes to notions of adaptation science, Tribal adaptation science needs, and Indigenous ways of knowing about the function and responses of non-human relatives to changing conditions. The project includes deep engagement with Tribal members and natural resource practitioners. Minnesota residence is required.

PI: Michael Dockry and Jessica Hellmann

You will collaborate with research teams around the world to develop high resolution crop maps for crops that have already been mapped (e.g., wheat, maize, rice, and soybean, oil palm and rubber) and to build complete global maps of annual and perennial crops using remote sensing and GIS. Experience in satellite remote sensing and GIS is required; work in global agriculture and food security is a plus.

PI: Deepak Ray

You will use data science and systems modeling methods to explore the effectiveness of different carbon reduction pathways as part of IonE’s energy transition research portfolio conducted with community organizations. Diverse disciplinary background welcome; experience or interest in systems modeling research on renewable energy pathways is particularly desirable.

PI: Jessica Hellmann & Melissa Kenney

Working with our Food System Supply-chain Sustainability team and partners (companies, industry groups, and NGOs) you would collect life cycle inventory data, analyze baseline greenhouse gas and water impacts across supply chains, and run scenario analyses.  Knowledge of life cycle analysis or sustainability impact assessment required. Knowledge of Python is a plus.

PI: Jennifer Schmitt & Nat Springer

You will work with an interdisciplinary team focused on understanding knowledge gaps, implementation challenges, and emerging opportunities for mainstreaming nature-based solutions into decision making in the Midwest region to improve human wellbeing, climate regulation, biodiversity conservation, and community resilience. Skill sets in geospatial modeling, climate and disaster risk assessment, policy analysis, or non-market environmental valuation methods are required. 

PI: Nfamara Dampha

You will explore climate teleconnections and the importance of biophysical variables in determining global crop yields. Working with a team of researchers across the U.S., you will develop statistical crop yield models to understand how climate variability and land surface climate variables impact crop yields. Experience in statistical modeling is required, and knowledge of crop yield-weather modeling is a plus.

PI: Deepak Ray

In collaboration with an interdisciplinary UMN research team and Minnesota partners across sectors, you will use skills in data science and coding to identify the existing data and decision support tools and then use this information to analyze the quality of Minnesota waters or identify gaps in our data and understanding. Diverse disciplinary backgrounds welcome; experience or interest in water quality modeling, statistical modeling, dashboard development, or water resource management are particularly desirable. Minnesota residence is required.

PI: Melissa Kenney, Andy Erickson, & Mae Davenport

Working with the Center for Building Research in the College of Design and the University of Minnesota Climate Adaptation Partnership to assess risks associated with climate change for buildings, the built environment, and other capital investments and projects. Recommendations about risk exposure and risk reduction emerging from the study will be shared with the Minnesota state government to inform future statewide project priorities. Project requires manipulating climatic data and connecting downscaled climate data to building standards and other local contexts to measure risk and develop solutions to reduce risk.

PI: Jessica Hellmann and Richard Graves