Kendall Fellowship: Climate Change Attribution

Kendall Fellowship: Climate Change Attribution
Climate & Energy Program
Union of Concerned Scientists
Location choice: Washington, DC or Berkeley, CA Office 

The Union of Concerned Scientists seeks outstanding candidates for the Kendall Science Fellows program. This up to two-year fellowship is open to post-doctoral to mid-career scientists.  The fellow will co-design and carry out an innovative, policy-relevant body of research in regional and local-scale climate attribution.  The fellow will work with collaborators in the scientific community and work with UCS staff to develop publicly relevant implications based on the findings.  Major findings are to be published in one or more peer-reviewed publications, as well as formats appropriate for media, policymakers and one or more major scientific or technical meetings. Candidates must have a strong background in relevant areas of climate science and attribution, including global and regional climate modeling, as well as excellent written and oral communication skills.

The Kendall Science Fellows Program was established to honor Nobel Prize winning physicist Henry Kendall who was with UCS from our beginnings and was the long-time chair of our board.  Kendall was known for his unique ability to shake up the status quo and catalyze new thinking, and UCS looks to Kendall Fellows to do the same. Priority will be given to innovative and forward-looking proposals that are primarily scientific, technical, or analytic in nature but also show interest in the application of science to policy. Fellows will benefit from the opportunity to learn from the UCS approach to science and policy, and UCS will benefit from the new approaches and expertise of the Kendall Fellows.

Responsibilities

The Kendall Fellow will spend up to two years conducting original analysis and evaluating existing research in order to comprehensively assess a select set of climate change impacts that can be attributed to human activities.  

In fulfilling this role, the Fellow will:

• generate written reports and scholarly articles on the fellowship topics;
• modify runs for models that have already been applied to attribution research to test new questions that isolate various aspects of proportional attribution over different time periods and with different contributions from relevant human activities;
• monitor and assess current and ongoing research and trends;
• communicate findings within UCS and to experts in the field, media, policymakers, and the public;
• serve as a spokesperson for the Kendall Fellows program.

Qualifications and experience

The Kendall Fellow should have knowledge and experience with climate change models that investigate regional impacts. Ideally, he or she would also have familiarity with attribution of human activities to those impacts. He or she should have strong written and verbal skills.

The Kendall Fellow should have interest in learning about effective communication of scientific information to general audiences, and either experience or interest in generating corporate or public policy to address climate and energy issues.

A Ph.D. in a related scientific or engineering field is required.

Compensation, Hours and Location: This is a full-time, up to two-year position based in either UCS’s Washington, DC or Berkeley, CA office. Fellowship will begin fall 2013. UCS offers excellent benefits and is an equal opportunity employer continually seeking to diversify its staff. Information about UCS is available at http://www.ucsusa.org

To Apply: Please submit a short application, including a statement of interest (up to 2 pages, including relevant background and experience, a brief description of a research idea in the selected area, and interest in working with UCS), curriculum vitae, and two references to jobs@ucsusa.org including “Kendall Fellowship” and “Climate Change Attribution” in the subject line.  Email materials in Word or PDF format only. No phone calls please. Deadline: December 21, 2012 or until filled.

Review of initial applications will begin January 1, 2013. Following an initial screening, top candidates will co-write a more specific fellowship proposal in coordination with UCS staff for submission to the Kendall Science Fellows Program Advisory Committee by January 31, 2013. Final decisions on the award of this competitive fellowship will be made by mid to late February, 2013.