Lead Research Analyst

University of Miami - Miami, FL

Full-time - Entry Level

Miami, FL

Educational Services

About the position

The Lead Research Analyst - Writer In Residence at the University of Miami's Climate Accountability Lab will engage in interdisciplinary research focused on the fossil fuel industry's impact on educational institutions and public narratives regarding climate change. This full-time position involves supervising collaborative research projects that utilize both qualitative and quantitative methods, contributing to academic publications, and providing writing support to colleagues.

Responsibilities

• Design and execute data collection strategies from public records, historical archives, news outlets, court records, social media, and elsewhere.
• Conduct structured and unstructured interviews with primary sources and mentor colleagues in interview training.
• Prepare peer-reviewed articles, white paper reports, presentations, and articles in the popular press.
• Provide writing and copy editing assistance to colleagues to ensure clarity, coherence, and impact of project deliverables.
• Collaborate with national and international teams of researchers, journalists, and others to collect data, conduct analysis, and report results.
• Contribute to grant proposals and other funding opportunities.

Requirements

• Minimum educational qualification is a BA or equivalent in fields including but not limited to Journalism, Sociology, History of Science, and Psychology.
• Strong capabilities in relevant research methods, which could include structured and unstructured interviewing; public records requests; archival research; open-ended data mining; and web scraping.
• Demonstrated familiarity with and experience investigating climate change politics, supply-side climate policy, and/or climate change disinformation and obstructionism.
• Excellent knowledge of government documents, agencies, and processes at local and federal levels.
• Strong publication record (journalistic and/or academic) in relevant fields.
• Willingness to travel and potentially relocate as necessary for project needs.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.

Nice-to-haves

• Proficiency in using programming languages such as Python, R, or similar.
• Experience working with interdisciplinary research teams or in cross-sector collaborations (for example between news media, academia, and NGOs).
• Diverse professional networks with journalists, scholars, policymakers, advocates, and others working on climate change and other environmental issues.