The Social and Economic Analysis Branch (https://www.usgs.gov/centers/fort/science/social-and-economic-analysis-sea) of the US Geological Survey in Fort Collins, CO, is hiring a social science research assistant to start summer 2020.  

They are looking for a BA/BS (or possibly MA/MS) level candidate with experience doing social science research. This would be an ideal opportunity if you have students who might eventually be thinking about graduate school and/or with an interest in federal service. The research assistant will have the chance to interact with a range of scholars and federal agency managers while contributing to applied social science and economics research about water, natural resource management, and/or wildland fire. 

Please pass this announcement and position description below along to any of your current students or recent graduates who might be interested. 

Employment Opportunity: Social Science Research Assistant

The Social and Economic Analysis Branch of the U.S. Geological Survey in Fort Collins, CO, (https://www.usgs.gov/centers/fort/science/social-and-economic-analysis-sea) is looking for a research assistant to support multiple projects about water, natural resources, and wildfire.

The research assistant will provide support for projects investigating environmental decision making processes; how policies, institutions, and decision support tools influence management outcomes; and decisions about wildfire risk. Key tasks include: identifying, obtaining, synthesizing, and reviewing interdisciplinary literature from a range of social science fields such as social-ecological systems, political ecology, and institutional analysis; and producing written summaries of these literature reviews. Additional duties may include analyzing qualitative and/or quantitative data, interpreting results, and contributing to peer-reviewed publications or other means of disseminating results.

The Social and Economic Analysis Branch is a dynamic, collegial group of social scientists and economists providing applied social science for a range of government agencies. The research assistant will have the opportunity to interact with Branch scientists, project partners from other institutions and government agencies, and collaborating natural scientists.

The research assistant must have:

● At least a bachelor’s degree in a social science field.

● Experience conducting social science research.

● Demonstrated ability to conduct interdisciplinary literature reviews.

● Excellent writing ability.

Our preferred candidate will have:

● A degree related to and/or experience with natural resource management or policy.

● An understanding of federal land management agencies, water policy, and/or the wildland fire context.

● Experience with any of the following: qualitative and/or quantitative social science research methods, interview studies, document analysis, network analysis, NVIVO, Stata, and/or R software, and interdisciplinary research environments.

● A U.S. driver’s license as operation of a Government vehicle may be required.

This position is a USGS Student Services contract position. This means:

● Applicants must be U.S. citizens

● Applicants must either have graduated within the past year or be currently enrolled as a student.

● For all legal purposes, student is regarded as an independent contractor. Payments for services are reportable and taxable as earned income. No Federal, State, or Local income taxes will be deducted. No Social Security or Medicare taxes will be deducted. Student is responsible for payment of all taxes. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) will report the total amount paid under this order to the Internal Revenue Service on a Standard Form 1099. The student is not considered an employee and will not receive a W-2 form.

This is a full-time position and begins on or around July 1, 2020. Employee will be physically located in Fort Collins, CO. Currently, one year of funding is available for this position.

Contact Information:

For questions related directly to the job, contact Amanda Cravens, Research Social Scientist, at aecravens@usgs.gov or James Meldrum, Research Economist, at jmeldrum@usgs.gov.

To Apply:

Please submit a cover letter, resume, transcripts (unofficial ok), and a writing sample demonstrating your ability to synthesize social science literature to aecravens@usgs.gov by 11:59 PM (Mountain Time) Sunday, April 19th. Please use “Social Science Research Assistant application” as the subject line for your email.