Ph.D. Assistantship for FEW Nexus Social Scientist

The Laboratory for Human-Environment Interactions Modeling and Analysis (HEIMA) at the University of Alabama is seeking an outstanding candidate for a fully-funded Ph.D. research assistantship with a focus on farmers' adaptive water resource decisions in the context of the food-energy-water (FEW) nexus. The successful candidate will work on the social science aspects of a large, interdisciplinary project with a specific focus on understanding farmers' decision-making processes related to crop choice and adoption of irrigation. In addition, the student will be central to the development, testing, and implementation of farmer interview questions and a cognitive mapping exercise, the insights from which will support agent-based modeling of farmer decision-making.

The successful candidate will be enrolled in the Ph.D. program in the Department of Geography. The position carries a full tuition waiver, a stipend, and health insurance. Additional funding for conference presentations will also be provided. The opportunity to gain teaching experience is also available, in which case the period of funding support can be extended. Expected start date will be Fall 2020 or Spring 2021, or as otherwise agreed.

Qualifications

Qualified students will have expertise or interest in one or more the following: GIS and spatial analysis, social survey design and implementation, ethnographic research methods, spatial statistical modeling, network analysis, or agent-based modeling. Previous experience and proficiency with NVivo, Qualtrics, NetLogo, Matlab, Python, or R is desirable.

Additional information about the position and application process can be found here. Please contact Dr. Nicholas Magliocca for more information.