RESEARCH ASSOCIATE, LEADERSHIP FOR THE ECOZOIC, MCGILL UNIVERSITY
The Leadership for the Ecozoic (L4E) partnership at McGill University is recruiting for at least one research associate to pursue research designed to enable a mutually enhancing human-Earth relationship. We are seeking exceptional early to mid-career scholars committed to rethinking prescientific and non-adaptive thought systems
such as economics and finance, law and governance, and ethics and ontology.
About the Position:
This person or persons will work closely with the McGill project director, Peter G. Brown and project manager, Dina Spigelski, in the Department of Natural Resource Sciences at McGill University. We expect the research associate(s) to develop additional collaborations with McGill and University of Vermont faculty and students as
well as with L4E’s wide network of external colleagues; and to participate in L4E activities such as student-led courses, retreats, meetings and workshops, development of a global campus, etc.
We offer two years of an annual salary of a minimum of 70,000 CDN plus benefits. A limited fund will be available to support research costs and travel. Expected start date is spring 2018.
About the Leadership for the Ecozoic Partnership:
The Ecozoic represents a vision for the future founded on mutually enhancing relationships between human societies and the global community of life. Leadership for the Ecozoic (L4E) is a global partnership initially based at McGill University and the University of Vermont to work toward that vision by: (1) advancing transdisciplinary scholarship in select doctoral programs to educate and empower new leaders for the Ecozoic; (2) co-creating a
global research-to-action network to heal and restore Earth’s life support systems; and (3) mobilizing and focusing higher education resources and communication on multi-faceted, human-induced, planetary disturbances.
L4E builds upon the success of Economics for the Anthropocene (E4A), a graduate research and training partnership that currently includes 25 institutions, 80 collaborators, and about 40 graduate student fellows. This next phase will continue to support joint courses, lectures, research projects, and service on doctoral committees as we work towards establishing a “global campus” that brings together an expanded community to envision, educate, and implement new and existing pathways towards the Ecozoic. The transition will include increased focus on implementing, communicating and advocating for paradigm shift outcomes through internships, action-research projects, active long-term partnerships and strategic communications. For more information click here.
Eligibility and Application:
Candidates must have completed a PhD and have demonstrated scholarship in their area. Competitive candidates will have a strong record of success in natural and social sciences, a commitment to interdisciplinary work, a keen interest in connecting research to action, and have shown great leadership and vision. Applications will be evaluated on academic merit, potential for real-world impact, excellence of the applicant and fit with L4E research themes. Women and people from diverse racial, ethnic, cultural, and socioeconomic
backgrounds are encouraged to apply. Send a cover letter, CV and research proposal to dina.spigelski@mcgill.ca by March 15 st 5 pm EST; the position will remain open until it is filled.
About McGill University:
McGill University is a research and teaching university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. McGill’s main campus is located at Mount Royal in downtown Montreal, with the second campus situated in Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, where the principal offices of the L4E project are located.
“Ecozoic” is a term for an era coined by Thomas Berry. He explained it as, “The comprehensive objective of the Ecozoic is to assist in establishing a mutually enhancing human presence upon the Earth. This cannot, obviously, be achieved immediately. But if this is not achieved in some manner or within some acceptable limits the human will continue to exist in a progressively degraded mode of being. The degradation both to ourselves and to the planet is the immediate evil that we are dealing with. The enhancement or the degradation will be a shared experience. We have a common destiny. Not simply a common human destiny, but a common destiny for all the components of the planetary community.” (Brian Swimme and Thomas Berry, The Universe Story, 251). He stated, “The universities must decide whether they will continue training persons for temporary survival in the declining Cenozoic Era or whether they will begin educating students for the emerging Ecozoic.” (Thomas Berry, “The University,” in The Great Work, 85).