Postdoc on changing dietary consumption and agricultural production

The Center for Data Science (CDS) and the Center for Environmental and Animal Protection (CEAP) at New York University (NYU) invites an application for a joint Faculty Fellow position to work on a project related to changing dietary consumption and agricultural production led by Environmental Studies faculty Sonali McDermid and Matthew Hayek (50% effort) as well as on a self-directed research agenda that fits with the research interests of CDS faculty (50% effort including teaching one course at CDS).

We offer a generous compensation package, funds to support research and travel, and will aim to offer access to NYU faculty housing. Review of applications begin in mid-February 2020.

CDS is the focal point for NYU’s university-wide initiative in data science and statistics, established 6 years ago, and one of the country’s leading data science research and training facilities. CDS is a vibrant space with 16 jointly appointed faculty (growing to over 20 in the next two years) and 11 associated faculty across computer science, mathematics, engineering, neuroscience, linguistics, politics, psychology, physics, biology and business; a list of affiliate faculty spanning a wide range of NYU’s schools and departments, a highly successful Master’s program and one of the first Data Science PhD programs as well as the new undergraduate program in data science. CDS’ research focuses on tools and methods at the intersection between applied mathematics, data science, high-dimensional statistics, machine learning, optimization, and several data-driven application areas.

CEAP focuses on integrating environmental and animal protection and is aligned with NYU’s Department of Environmental Studies. CEAP conducts, supports, and disseminates research that contributes to the protection of both animals and the environment. The Center has three distinguishing features: (1) its focus on highly credible, evidence-based research that will provide usable knowledge and policy recommendations to decision-makers and advocacy groups; (2) its emphasis on the integration of environmental and animal protection issues; and (3) its attention to fostering collaboration between scholars and private-sector change makers around the world. The nexus of animal agriculture and climate change represents one of the most pressing and least understood threats to a sustainable future. This project aims to analyze and visualize consequences of changing food production and consumption patterns globally. Using big data and statistical modeling, the project will quantify land use, biodiversity, greenhouse gases, and nitrogen pollution, as well as a number of social and economic variables.

We seek outstanding interdisciplinary researchers with expertise in managing and analyzing large datasets, statistical modeling, error analysis and estimation, and data visualization. Over the course of the project, the CEAP-team expects a public and queryable database of results, a multi-authored, peer-reviewed publication, a policy brief, and some summary visualization for a public-facing website. The candidate is also expected to be engaged in self-directed research that leverages the expertise of CDS' joint and associate faculty.

This is a full-time, non-tenure position, with a light teaching load of one (1) CDS course per year as the primary instructor. The remainder of the time is for research and the candidate will be expected to work on the CEAP project for half of the time, with the remainder of time available for individual research, ideally within the interests of CDS faculty, and for teaching one course per year. Appointments will be for one year, with potential for a 1-year re-appointment pending satisfactory review. Fellows will be offered competitive salary and benefits, with funds to support research and travel. A start date of September 1, 2020 is envisaged.