Description
The Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering in the Schulich School of Engineering invites applications for a Research Associate position. This full-time, fixed-term position is for a one-year term, with the possibility of extension.
This role reports to the Principal Investigator and is additionally accountable to the One Child Every Child Project Manager. This position will focus on a comprehensive research agenda focused on climate change and its impacts on children's health in Canada. The Research Associate will play a pivotal role in building a community-focused research agenda, developing frameworks and toolkits for incorporating local perspectives on health impacts and interventions, and fostering transdisciplinary research, education, and advocacy.
This role will be part of the One Child Every Child Program, a Canada First Research Excellence Fund (CFREF) initiative. In 2023, the CFREF invested $125 million in University of Calgary's One Child Every Child (OCEC): A Transformational Child Health Research Initiative, with a vision for all Canadian children to be the healthiest, most empowered and thriving in the world. This ground-breaking initiative will drive discovery and innovation by bringing together researchers, community partners, health-care providers, educators, trainees, stakeholders, Indigenous communities and equity-deserving groups, including but not limited to women, racialized persons, persons with disabilities, LGBTQ2S+ persons, and at their intersections to build the foundation for global excellence and leadership in research to enable every child and community to thrive.
The Institutes for Transdisciplinary Scholarship are a connection point for the UCalgary community, from research institutes to individual scholars. To address barriers to working between, across, and beyond traditional academic disciplines and in partnership with communities, the Institutes for Transdisciplinary Scholarship (ITS) at UCalgary provides resources and a collective approach to impact societal challenges and opportunities by facilitating collaboration, co-learning, and knowledge transformation informed by multiple perspectives.
All program members will receive training on working with Indigenous people and communities and data analysis, including people's perspectives, health, and climate. Experience with Indigenous community-based work is an asset for members of the OCEC research team.
Summary of Key Responsibilities (job functions include but are not limited to):
- Conduct literature reviews and data analysis as assigned, to understand the effects of climate change on children's health, with a particular focus on at-risk communities.
- Evaluate existing frameworks for assessing climate change impacts on children and how they can be contextualized for Canada.
- Engage with community right holders and stakeholders to identify research priorities and co-create a research agenda focusing on climate change and child health that are relevant for communities. This includes community outreach and various forms of context-appropriate engagement activities.
- Analyze interactions between local perspectives, health and climate data from large data sets to identify synergies, tensions, and new pathways to advance climate change-driven interventions.
- Work together with the research team to create a checklist and potential future studies to evaluate the effectiveness of various climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies when it comes to child health.
- Contribute to writing scientific articles regarding climate change and child health, with a focus on community engagement and knowledge co-development.
- Contribute to the writing of funding applications and co-develop research proposals that address community needs and concerns surrounding climate change and child health.
- Foster collaborations across disciplines to enhance research and educational initiatives, including across health, engineering and the social sciences through a transdisciplinary lens.
- This includes participating and assisting in organizing workshops, seminars and training sessions.
Qualifications / Requirements:
- A Bachelor's degree in a relevant field is required, such as environmental science, public health, health sciences or a related field; A Master's Degree is considered an asset.
- A minimum of 2 years of relevant work experience is preferred, with experience in conducting community-based research being required.
- Experience working on projects with Indigenous communities and/or organizations, equity-deserving groups and broader communities.
- Experience with climate data and analysis of large data sets is an asset.
- A combination of experience, training, and education will be considered.
- Ability to work collaboratively within a team environment, reconcile differing perspectives, develop consensus, and secure cooperation and support from clients, right holders, stakeholders, and team members.
- Demonstrate a high degree of intercultural competence and capacity to include diverse ideas, perspectives, ways of knowing and experiences to build relationships and work effectively with diverse communities across various settings.
- A high level of flexibility and ability to adapt to changing workloads and priorities is required.
- Ability to communicate effectively orally and in writing, prepare clear, well-written reports, and lead or facilitate meetings, groups and teams, including managing controversial subjects.
- Ability to work both independently and as a member of a transdisciplinary team, manage multiple project priorities and deliverables.
Application Deadline: April 17, 2025
We would like to thank all applicants in advance for submitting their resumes. Please note, only those candidates chosen to continue on through the selection process will be contacted.
This position is part of the AUPE bargaining unit, and falls under the Specialist/ Advisor Job Family, Phase 2.
For a listing of all management and staff opportunities at the University of Calgary, view our Management and Staff Careers website.
About the University of Calgary
UCalgary is Canada's entrepreneurial university, located in Canada's most enterprising city. It is a top research university and one of the highest-ranked universities of its age. Founded in 1966, its 36,000 students experience an innovative learning environment, made rich by research, hands-on experiences and entrepreneurial thinking. It is Canada's leader in the creation of start-ups. Start something today at the University of Calgary. For more information, visit ucalgary.ca.
The University of Calgary has launched an institution-wide Indigenous Strategy committing to creating a rich, vibrant, and culturally competent campus that welcomes and supports Indigenous Peoples, encourages Indigenous community partnerships, is inclusive of Indigenous perspectives in all that we do.
As an equitable and inclusive employer, the University of Calgary recognizes that a diverse staff/faculty benefits and enriches the work, learning and research experiences of the entire campus and greater community. We are committed to removing barriers that have been historically encountered by some people in our society. We strive to recruit individuals who will further enhance our diversity and will support their academic and professional success while they are here. In particular, we encourage members of the designated groups (women, Indigenous peoples, persons with disabilities, members of visible/racialized minorities, and diverse sexual orientation and gender identities) to apply. To ensure a fair and equitable assessment, we offer accommodation at any stage during the recruitment process to applicants with disabilities. Questions regarding [diversity] EDI at UCalgary can be sent to the Office of Institutional Commitments (equity@ucalgary.ca) and requests for accommodations can be sent to Human Resources (hrhire@ucalgary.ca).
Do you have most but not all the qualifications? Research show that women, racialized and visible minorities, and persons with disabilities are less likely to apply for jobs unless they meet every single qualification. At UCalgary we are committed to achieving equitable, diverse, inclusive and accessible employment practices and workplaces and encourage you to apply if you believe you are right for this role.
We encourage all qualified applicants to apply, however preference will be given to Canadian citizens and permanent residents of Canada.
