Opportunity

Planet Texas 2050 is a UT Austin initiative addressing the “grand challenge” of building resilience in the face of climate change and rapid population growth. Our teams include interdisciplinary researchers working alongside community-based and municipal partners to develop solutions for mitigating climate threats and adapting to present and future challenges. 

Compounding the impacts of the climate crisis, by 2050, Texas's population is expected to reach 40 million, creating unprecedented demands on resources and infrastructure. Our program’s mission is to advance collaborative research on resilience and co-design adaptive strategies with stakeholders and communities across Texas. The solutions we develop will have applications extending far beyond our region, serving as a model for communities worldwide facing similar 21st-century challenges.

Planet Texas 2050 is currently seeking two innovative, collaborative, and community-engaged Climate and Community Resilience postdoctoral scholars to join our team in a cluster hire across two research areas: (1) Environmental Social Science, Education and Communication/Meaning-Making and (2) Environmental Data Science and Spatial Computing. This job listing is for area one, which focuses on the integration of social science research with educational and/or communication design to understand and address environmental challenges through community engagement and learning. Successful candidates will contribute to groundbreaking research while building their academic careers within a supportive, interdisciplinary, and highly collaborative environment at a top-tier research university. We welcome applicants across a range of disciplines and have particular interest in those who seek to work at the interfaces between disciplines.

Potential/Sample Projects:

• Partnering with organizations to develop community-driven climate adaptation strategies.
• Co-creating standards-aligned environmental education curricula.
• Analyzing relationships between environmental hazards and community health and well-being.
• Designing, implementing, and evaluating arts-based environmental education programs.
• Studying communication processes for accessible climate science information.
• Co-designing youth participatory action research initiatives.

Responsibilities:

• Conduct independent and collaborative research aligned with Planet Texas 2050's mission* and engage in community-based research.  
• Write and publish research findings in high-impact journals and present at national/international conferences.
• Develop grant proposals and help secure external funding.
• Mentor graduate students. 
• Other duties as assigned. 

Qualifications:

• PhD received within the past 3 years in social sciences, environmental studies, environmental humanities, arts, education, urban planning, or related field.
• Experience with participatory research methods (e.g., community-based participatory research, interviews, focus groups, photovoice).
• Skilled in qualitative data analysis and community-based approaches.
• Demonstrated commitment and ability to collaborate across disciplines to address complex challenges.
• Strong publication record commensurate with career stage.
• Excellent communication skills for both academic and community audiences.
• Enthusiasm for working with various stakeholders.

Preferred:

• Knowledge of learning design theories or pedagogical approaches.
• Experience or interest in arts and humanities-based engagement strategies.
• Experience or interest in arts-based educational research.
• Understanding of environmental policy and/or K-12 education contexts.
• Project Management Experience.