Job Description

Interested applicants are invited to submit the following documents via our online portal by December 1, 2024:

• A cover letter expressing interest and qualifications for the position.
• A current curriculum vitae detailing relevant education, experience, publications, and skills.
• Contact information for two to three professional references.

If your attachments are too large, please submit your online application with your CV and send the full packet to seas-hr-requests@umich.edu.

The University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability is pleased to announce an opening for a Postdoctoral Research Associate in Carbon Accounting of Forest Products. This position is fully-funded by the collaborative project LASER (Lifecycle Assessment Synthesized with Ecosystems and Risk). LASER endeavors to wed advanced forest carbon accounting methods from forest ecology with dynamic life cycle assessment (LCA) models from industrial ecology to create robust frameworks for evaluating carbon dynamics (incl. biogenic carbon pools and fluxes).

You will have the unique opportunity to be co-mentored by Drs. Benjamin Goldstein and Kai Zhu. The role is designed for an interdisciplinary researcher motivated to develop dynamic LCA models in concert with forest ecologists and to meld these with relevant methods and data from forest ecology. The outcome of the project will be a scalable methodology and decisions-support platform to foster more holistic and sustainable forest management in the face of climate change.

The University of Michigan offers a competitive salary and benefits package commensurate with experience.

For inquiries regarding the position, please contact benjgo@umich.edu.

• Design and develop a dynamic LCA model tailored to forest products.
• Collaborate with forest ecologists to integrate LCA with forest carbon accounting methods.
• Analyze and interpret data, prepare manuscripts for publication in peer-reviewed journals, and present findings at conferences.
• Contribute to the broader goals of LASER by participating in meetings, organizing workshops, etc.
  

• A recent PhD in industrial ecology or related field
• Demonstrated expertise in Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), especially in land-based systems involving biogenic carbon, such as agriculture, forestry, or bioenergy.
• Experience with LCA software (such as SimaPro or OpenLCA) and LCA datasets (such as ecoinvent)
• Demonstrated ability to work independently as well as part of a collaborative team
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
  

• Demonstrated proficiency in computer programming, particularly in R and/or Python
• Familiarity with data science techniques and machine learning
• Previous LCA work on forestry systems or bioenergy systems

Diversity and inclusion are integral to the University of Michigan's commitment to excellence in research, and we encourage applications from candidates who can contribute to the diversity and excellence of our academic community. 

The University of Michigan is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer.

About University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

A great university is made so by its faculty and staff, and Michigan is recognized as one of the best universities to work for in the country. The Michigan culture is known for engaging faculty and staff in all facets of the university to create a workplace that is vibrant and stimulating.For two consecutive years, the Chronicle of Higher Education has placed U-M in its "Great Colleges to Work For" survey. In particular, the university earns high marks for strong relations between faculty and administrators, a collaborative system of governance, strong pay and benefits, and a healthy work/life balance.

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