Civic Science Postdoctoral Fellowship in Climate Communication and Action – Jan 15

Posted by University of Pennsylvania on January 2, 2024

Are you passionate about using science to positively impact society? Are you motivated to find innovative ways to conduct science in partnership with communities? Do you want to join a network of individuals and organizations who are committed to advancing science and society through meaningful collaboration between scientists and community members? With support from the Rita Allen Foundation and Burroughs Wellcome fund, we’re recruiting a Postdoctoral Fellow who will serve as a 2024-2025 Civic Science Fellow and develop civically-oriented research projects focused on the science of climate communication, action, and resilience at the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania (APPC), working with APPC’s Climate Communication and Action and Science Communication Divisions, with APPC’s partner center the Penn Center for Science Sustainability and the Media, and with the university’s Netter Center for Community Partnerships. This appointment is expected to last 24 months, with an initial appointment from March 2024 to February 2025, and a second year, contingent on funding and satisfactory performance, from March 2025 to February 2026.

As part of this unique opportunity, this Fellow will be in a cohort through the Civic Science Fellows program and participate in regular professional development and information sharing activities as part of the Fellows program and network. At the University of Pennsylvania, this Fellow will have the opportunity to collaborate with community partners, journalists, and neuroscientists to develop and test interventions to build agency, motivate action, and promote well-being in young people in Philadelphia and beyond. Example projects include: (1) engaging in community-engaged Youth Participatory Action Research with high school students in West Philadelphia to collaboratively co-create youth-focused messages to increase climate change awareness and action; (2) designing an intervention tournament to systematically test and compare the relative efficacy of different climate communication strategies to promote prosocial behaviors to address climate change (e.g., sharing information, signing petitions, engaging in civic action, and making lifestyle changes); and (3) studying individual and interpersonal factors (e.g., agency, hope, social connection) that promote resilience and well-being in the face of ongoing crises like climate change.

More about the Civic Science Fellows program:

The Civic Science Fellows program is building a network of leaders committed to ensuring that all people shape and benefit from science, technology, and innovation. The program brings together scientists, scholars, community leaders, journalists, educators, media producers, public-interest organizations, and funders to seed new collaborations between science, diverse communities, and civil society. Envisioned as a Civic Science Lab, Fellows and the organizations that host them carry out pioneering work to co-create pilots, partnerships, knowledge, models, and new ways of working. Fellows and partners engage as part of a network of learning and action that spans organizations, disciplines, and communities—a growing effort to catalyze civic science culture change.

We will begin reviewing applications on January 15, 2024, and priority will be given to applications received before that.

Learn more.