Research Associate in Interdisciplinary Conservation Science or Environmental Social Science

A Research Associate position is available at Imperial College London (ICL), in partnership with Conservation International, to investigate empirically what drives the rate and extent of the adoption of a wide range of conservation initiatives globally, and how this adoption and spread translate to impact.

A first stage in the research is to identify the factors that drive adoption and spread of a wide range of conservation initiatives and develop predictive models for adoption. The second stage will focus on integrating these factors with existing information on impact of the different conservation and resource management actions to build an interactive user focussed online decision support tool to inform area based environmental targets and Sustainable Development Goals. This will focus on the second stage of this research - to understand how the adoption and scaling of conservation initiatives translate into impact and the development of a user-friendly dashboard.

You should be committed to generating and using evidence to support effective conservation. As a collective, we strive to fill critical knowledge gaps on the establishment, sustainability, and scaling of conservation and develop actionable tools for practitioners to design, implement, and monitor conservation projects and facilitate shared learning across geographies.

Duties and responsibilities

You will work together with students and postdoctoral researchers within the Centre for Environmental Policy at ICL and in the Moore Center for Science at Conservation International, under the direct supervision of Dr Morena Mills and in close collaboration with Dr Anna Freni Sterrantino from the Turing Institute and Dr. Arundhati Jagadish from Conservation International.

You will be expected to aid in investigations on what drives the adoption and spread of conservation initiatives around the world and lead the work which translates adoption models to social and ecological impact. You will work in close collaboration with researchers focussed on different conservation initiatives to test the use of various modelling techniques to explain why conservation initiatives go to scale.

Essential requirements

Hold, or be near completion of, a PhD in Conservation Science, Environmental Social Science or a related field.

Essential skills:

• Collecting and integrating data from a variety of data sources on past and present projects, focusing particularly on those attributes that influence adoption and scaling and which allow evaluations of socio-ecological impacts
• Knowledge of diffusion theory and impact forecasting
• Expertise handling large and complex databases
• Experience working on R/ python

You should also enjoy working in teams to solve interdisciplinary problems.

Further information

This is a full-time, fixed term position for 2 years. The start date is 1 July 2023 or as soon as possible thereafter. You will be based at south Kensington Campus.

Candidates who have not yet been officially awarded their PhD will be appointed as a Research Assistant within the salary range £38,194 - £41,388 per annum.

The College is currently trialling a Work Location Framework until early 2023. Hybrid working may be considered for this role and the role holder may be expected to work 60% or more of their time onsite, with 40% the minimum time spent onsite. The opportunity for hybrid working will be discussed at interview.

Should you require any further details please contact: Morena Mills at m.mills@imperial.ac.uk

• Job Description SR.pdf