<p>Essential Duties</p> <ol> <li>Designs, plans, implements and evaluates complex multifaceted research projects/systems, including method development, adaptation and validation. 2. Collaborates with PI to define research endeavors and the development of research hypothesis and approach. 3. Solves complex methodology, protocol, procedural and research problems through design of techniques, procedures and policies that will achieve research goals. 4. Develops long range plans for supplies and equipment to ensure smooth operation of laboratory. 5. Investigates, analyzes and evaluates complex data, data collection systems and methods to reach scientific conclusions and ensures the integrity of research data. 6. Collaborates with PI to coordinate major lab renovations working with Facilities, Health and Safety, and Purchasing to ensure deadlines, safety standards and purchases are according to plans and within budgets. 7. Prepares scientific reports and papers for research proposals and published reports. 8. May perform other duties as assigned. </li></ol> <p>Required Education and Experience</p> <p>Master's Degree in a scientific discipline and three years of experience or an equivalent combination of education and experience.</p> <p>Background Check Requirements</p> <p>All candidates for employment will be subject to pre-employment background screening for this position, which may include motor vehicle, DOT certification, drug testing and credit checks based on the position description and job requirements. All offers are contingent upon the successful completion of the background check. For additional information on the background check requirements and process visit "Learn about background checks" under the Applicant Support Resources section of Careers on the It's Your Yale website.</p> <p>Position Focus:</p> <p>We seek a motivated and organized Research Associate to lead an initiative led by the Yale Applied Science Synthesis Program (YASSP) and the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) on Natural Climate Solutions (NCS). This position is ideal for individuals with an environmental background in ecology, agricultural sciences, ecosystem management, forestry and/or land management who are looking to expand their expertise and contribute to meaningful research on the carbon market, science policy, and complementary monitoring, measurement, reporting, and verification (MMRV) methods.</p> <p>The Research Associate will be hired to support a program that aims to rapidly synthesize and develop evidence that anticipates and directs MMRV science to generate high quality information for NCS-focused policymakers and practitioners. The Research Associate II, with support from faculty and staff in YASSP and staff at EDF, will: Synthesize and publish available evidence for the climate mitigation efficacy of agricultural soil and tree/forest solutions such as agroforestry and biochar. A central focus will be on the quality of evidence available to quantify the efficacy of land management interventions for the regions and contexts where they are being applied to identify which solutions to implement where for the greatest return on investment, with the lowest risk for negative outcomes. Lead efforts to develop and communicate project design guidelines that will begin to fill the likely evidence gap related to high-quality, empirical MMRV for reliable quantification of the efficacy of soil and tree solutions, with a focus on testing and identifying effective technological (digital) MMRV to help reduce quantification impediments and hence help the solutions to scale.</p> <p>Responsibilities: Project Management: Oversees own project research including coordinating fieldwork activities, organizing data collection efforts, analyzing data, and communicating with project partners and stakeholders. Content Expertise: Provides subject matter expertise in ecosystem management, conservation and restoration, and applied science with the natural climate solution context to develop research project with supervisors. Communication and Outreach: Communicates research findings to diverse audiences through presentations, publications, and outreach activities, raising awareness of conservation issues and promoting evidence-based decision-making. The Research Associate II will lead on publication writing. Publications may include peer-reviewed papers, white papers, reports, or one-page summaries of key research findings from the research project. Research Development & Collaboration: Participates in collaborative research projects on various tasks including data collection from primary sources (peer-reviewed articles, published datasets), data analysis and/or figure creation. In addition to leading a project, the Associate may support other ongoing efforts of YASSP and EDF staff in the writing and editing of material for publication and presentation. Administration: Manages administrative tasks related to project operations including scheduling meetings, recording meeting notes, and maintaining program documents. Data Management: Leads data management tasks, including data entry, data cleaning, curation, organization, and analysis, working with YASSP and EDF staff.</p> <p>Preferred Education, Experience and Skills:</p> <p>Familiarity with spatial analysis, data analysis, and/or data/code management tools including but not limited to ArcGIS, R, Python, GitHub, GoogleEarth (please note proficiencies in CV or Cover Letter).</p> <p>Posting Disclaimer</p> <p>The intent of this job description is to provide a representative summary of the essential functions that will be required of the position and should not be construed as a declaration of specific duties and responsibilities of the particular position. Employees will be assigned specific job-related duties through their hiring departments.</p>