The Water Institute is a not-for-profit, independent applied research and technical services institute headquartered in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The Institute’s mission is to reduce the vulnerability of people, communities, ecosystems, and economies through transformative approaches to interconnected environmental and social challenges in Louisiana, along the Gulf Coast, and around the world. Through an integrated and interdisciplinary approach, the Institute’s work helps create more resilient communities, thriving economies, and a healthy environment. More information about the Water Institute can be found at www.thewaterinstitute.org.
The Water Institute research spans a variety of specialties from applied engineering to numerical modeling to human dimensions to ecology to geology to policy to planning. We partner with local, state, and federal government agencies, universities, NGOs, and other researchers to provide independent, creative applied science solutions to tackle the most difficult problems that communities and ecosystems face. Recently, The Water Institute founded the Community Resilience Center to increase climate resilience by addressing systemic barriers and making available more capacity and expertise to support a broader array of Gulf Coast communities. The Center works with communities to move beyond the assessment and study of risk towards the exploration, co-development, and implementation of community-focused strategies to increase resilience at every level: from individual to household, block to neighborhood, and state to federal. The Center focuses on resilience to our changing climate and the resulting cascading and compounding impacts, with an explicit emphasis on addressing systemic barriers and processes that reinforce disparate impacts.
Position Description
The Water Institute is looking for a researcher with experience in qualitative and/or quantitative research methods in the social sciences to support an open Social Scientist position. The position will be based in the Planning and Policy Research (PPR) Department and will work with the Community Resilience Center. The position will focus on integrating evidence-based research into practice for improved outcomes for residents along the Gulf Coast and beyond. Prospective applicants should have a strong background in social science research methods (e.g., mixed methods, survey research, economic analysis) and should be able to work both independently and collaboratively. The individual will play a key role in conducting applied research, developing and evaluating programs, and informing strategies to enhance the capacity of communities to withstand, adapt to, and recover from climate impacts. The applicant will also play a leadership role in developing strategies and engagement to foster community action based on values-based, science-informed approaches. While approximately half of the workload will be related to work done by the Community Resilience Center in the first year, the applicant will also be encouraged to work on a broad range of policy related projects throughout the Institute. The preferred location for this position is the Gulf Coast. The candidate should expect to travel approximately once per month, primarily to Gulf-based locations.
It is expected that the successful candidate will have high comfort levels working and interacting with diverse and technical collaborators, decision makers, stakeholders, and coastal residents. The successful candidate also will be able to connect across technical fields, translate research into practice, develop new technical skills and communicate with a wide range of audiences. Exemplary organizational skills, communication skills, attention to detail, and reliability, are essential skills for success at this position. The successful candidate must be able to work independently on tasks that contribute to larger research and analysis projects delivered by a highly collaborative team.
Roles and Responsibilities:
- Leading and supporting research projects in fields such as environmental and social determinants of health, economics, extreme weather and disasters with an emphasis on environmental justice or equity, which will include community engagement strategy development and implementation.
- Collaboratively designing and implementing pilot projects for resilience activities with communities to explore novel or emerging community-led strategies for increasing climate resilience.
- Designing and implementing short- and long-term qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis methodologies through participant observation, in-depth interviewing, focus group interviewing, survey research secondary source research, or other mixed methods approaches.
- Designing and conducting analysis of observed or model output data to help evaluate proposed resilience projects and strategies across a range of metrics (e.g., benefit-cost analysis, ecosystem services outputs, other community-identified outcomes of interest).
- Collaborating with community members, policymakers, and stakeholders to co-create and implement resilience solutions.
- Developing and disseminating research findings to communities and decision-makers through reports, presentations, and community outreach activities, as well as to researchers and practitioners through technical reports, peer-reviewed academic products, and white papers.
- Initiating, supporting, and performing grant writing and editing.
- Performing other related duties as assigned.
Required Qualifications:
- PhD in Sociology, Anthropology, Economics, Epidemiology, Public Policy, Environmental Science, or a closely related Social Science or Marine Science discipline. Equivalent experience working in these fields as an expert may be considered in limited instances.
- Subject matter expertise in community resilience and climate impacts.
- Familiarity with qualitative social science research design and methods.
- Familiarity with the usage of statistical software for data analysis (R or Python experience preferred).
- Familiarity working with and translating quantitative model outputs into decision-relevant analysis and communication to different audiences.
- Experience working in interdisciplinary project teams, in or with the public sector, and with communities.
- Strong written skills, ability to describe highly technical information clearly (including writing technical reports, non-technical summaries, and publishing in peer-reviewed scientific journals).
- Strong oral communication skills for discussing highly technical concepts to diverse audiences (including oral presentations at project meetings, stakeholder meetings, and scientific conferences).
- Strong project management and time management skills.
Desired Qualifications:
These are not required to be eligible but having one or more of these qualifications will increase a candidate’s competitiveness and are meant to be illustrative of what else the role could entail.
- 5+ years of work experience.
- Experience working with communities on the Gulf Coast.
- Experience with ethnographic research.
- Understanding of current scientific literature related to community resilience to climate impacts.
- Experience in grant writing and editing.
- Specific technical skills to complement the Institute’s existing technical services, which could include:
- Graphic design and/or urban design skills
- Data visualization
- Spatial analysis in GIS
- Expertise in developing and conducting meaningful community engagement practices
- Expertise in risk, vulnerability, and/or benefit-cost analysis.
The successful candidate will be a self-motivated, results-driven professional with sound judgment, excellent interpersonal skills, and the flexibility to adjust to changing priorities in a demanding, fast-paced environment. The Water Institute expects to offer a competitive salary and benefits commensurate with a candidate’s skills and experience for this full-time exempt position.
The Water Institute is an Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, or protected veteran status and will not be discriminated against on the basis of disability.
We are headquartered in Baton Rouge and the position will be located in Louisiana at our main office in Baton Rouge or at our office located on the UNO campus in New Orleans. However, a remote work scenario may be considered based on position, state of residency requirements, business needs, etc.
The hiring pay for the position starts at $90,000 and a final determination is based on the skills, education, and/or experience of the successful candidate. We believe in the importance of pay equity and consider the internal equity of our current staff as part of any final offer. We also offer a generous benefits package for full-time exempt positions.
Unique Benefits of a Water Institute Career
- Growth opportunity: We are always learning and developing new research methodologies and working with partners to solve problems. You will have the opportunity to engage in growing and leading research with ample opportunities to take ownership and grow.
- Flexibility: We understand that our team members have different needs and do our best to work with their schedules while getting the job done.
- Inclusive environment: We are committed to building an inclusive environment where all teammates feel comfortable and supported.
- Fun! We love to keep things fun, both within our work and at company-wide events.
- Work life balance: We are respectful of people’s boundaries and support that through Institute values as well as our Flexible Leave Policy so that our team has time to recharge and do their best work within the mission of the organization.
- The Water Institute Values: Scientific Integrity, Excellence, Transdisciplinary Collaboration, Accountability, Diversity, Work/Life Balance, Respect, Impact
