Researcher Geospatial and Climate Analytics

The United Nations University (UNU) is an international community of scholars engaged in policy-oriented research, capacity development and dissemination of knowledge in furthering the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations. The mission of UNU is to contribute, through research and capacity building, to efforts to resolve the pressing global problems that are the concern of the United Nations and its Member States.

For the past four decades, UNU has been a go-to think tank for impartial research on human survival, conflict prevention, sustainable development, and welfare. With more than 400 researchers in 12 countries, UNU’s work spans the 17 Sustainable Development Goals’ full breadth, generating policy-relevant knowledge to effect positive global change. UNU maintains more than 200 collaborations with UN agencies and leading universities and research institutions across the globe. For more information, please visit http://unu.edu.

UNU-INWEH is one of 14 research and training Institutes that comprise the think tanks in the UNU system. UNU-INWEH’s vision is a world free of water, environmental and health problems where sustainable development and environmental health and human security are assured for all. Its mission is to help resolve pressing water, environmental, and health challenges that are of concern to the United Nations, its Member States, and their people. UNU-INWEH pursues its mission through critical analysis and synthesis of existing bodies of scientific discovery; targeted research that identifies emerging policy issues; application of on-the-ground scalable science-based solutions to grand water, environmental and health challenges; and global outreach. 

Responsibilities:

Contingent upon the level of appointment, the incumbent is expected to: 

Research and assist with development of the Geospatial, Climate and Infrastructure Analytics programme

• Play a significant role in UNU-INWEH’s initiatives and projects on advanced geospatial analytics, machine learning, and artificial intelligence (AI) solutions to analyze and visualize climate and environmental data, with a focus on extreme events (e.g., flood, drought, wildfire, heatwaves, and sand and dust storms), environmental changes (e.g. deforestation, desertification, land subsidence, air quality, groundwater, etc.), and other environmental and climate risks affecting natural, infrastructure, and socio-economic systems.
• Interact with individual researchers and interdisciplinary teams to integrate complex climate and environmental data into decision-making tools and applications and interactive visualizations for diverse stakeholders.
• Stay at the forefront of emerging technologies in geospatial analytics, informatics, and AI, providing technical guidance and contributing to the dissemination of research through reports, publications, and presentations.
• Support the activities of UNU-INWEH’s online Learning Centre (https://lc.unu.edu/), which provides university students, and practicing water, environment, and health professionals with an opportunity to strengthen their capacity in several focused and multidisciplinary learning areas.
• Provide technical expertise to UNU-INWEH’s other strategic areas of programmes and projects.

Enhance contributions and collaborations for the Geospatial, Climate and Infrastructure Analytics and the Nexus Analytics,  Informatics and Data (AID) programme:

• Serve as a major contributor to the further development of the UNU-INWEH’s Geospatial, Climate, and Infrastructure Analytics programme and the UNU Sustainability Nexus AID (Analytics, Informatics and Data) programme.
• Contribute to integrated, cross-thematic, and interdisciplinary approaches to addressing global challenges related to climate change, particularly focusing on risks and vulnerabilities related to extreme events and natural disasters, and the application of geospatial analytics, machine learning, and AI, while considering research-policy bridging and advocacy dimensions.
• Contribute to the development and implementation of UNU-INWEH’s future research and development areas related to geospatial analytics, climate data processing and visualization, and environmental informatics.
• Provide technical expertise to UNU-INWEH’s other strategic areas of programmes and projects, where applicable.
• Assist in developing contracts with partners, consultants, and contractors, and supporting the implementation of these contracts to ensure timely and effective completion of tasks and disbursement of funds, where applicable.
• Provide administrative support, as required, across projects and programmes of UNU-INWEH.

Design and deliver capacity and education development:

• Develop and deliver capacity and education initiatives, including e-learning modules and training programmes, to enhance the understanding and application of geospatial analytics, climate data visualization, and machine learning techniques among diverse stakeholders.
• Contribute to capacity building initiatives on the development of the future world leaders through, inter alia: (i) expanding UNU-INWEH’s online educational platforms by developing and launching new courses around the expertise; (ii) contributing to curriculum development and teaching in the collaborative education programmes of UNU-INWEH; and (iii) attracting and supervising interns and externs, students, and young researchers, as required.

Knowledge sharing and fundraising:

• Contribute to fundraising activities of the institute, including the development of cross-thematic and interdisciplinary proposals in collaboration with other programme leaders at UNU-INWEH as well as in partnership with other institutions and professionals.
• Contribute to the development of grant proposals, peer-reviewed publications, policy briefs, presentations, and related materials, as required.
• Perform other duties as assigned by supervisor and UNU-INWEH’s Director.

Qualifications:

Education and certification:

• Ph.D. or Master’s degree in geoinformatics, climate/environmental sciences, data/computer sciences or engineering, informatics, machine learning, AI, geography, civil/environmental engineering, natural resource economics, or other fields broadly relevant to climate change, environmental data analysis, and related applications.

Required skills and experience:

Required:

• One (1) year of work/research experience in one (preferably more) of these areas is desirable:
• Environmental informatics and data visualization
• Application of machine learning and AI to climate, environmental, and geospatial data
• Climate modeling and geospatial data analysis
• Development of decision-support tools for climate and environmental management
• Extreme weather events, natural disasters and compound risk analysis
• Artificial Intelligence (AI) applications in water/environmental/climate/health/agriculture management
• Climate finance and/or financial risk analysis related to sustainability, climate, environment, health, water, food, energy, infrastructure, etc.
• Climate and environmental economics
• Alternatively, a minimum of three years of progressively related work experience in geospatial analytics, climate data analysis, or related fields is required for candidates with a master’s degree.
• Ability to conduct numerical analysis of complex datasets, and synthesis of findings from a wide body of literature in systematic/scoping reviews and policy briefs is a must.
• Result-oriented, self-motivated, and “hands-on” with the ability to prioritize work and do multi-tasking.
• Excellent writing, research, presentation, and networking skills.
• Familiarity with policy-oriented research and prior experience in project management (administration and financial aspects) are highly desirable.
• Demonstrated ability to perform effectively in team-based research, incorporating interdisciplinary approaches.
• Ability to independently manage projects and interact with a large group of stakeholders.
• Demonstrated skills in developing and maintaining online tools will be an asset.
• Demonstrated skills in developing training courses and administering online learning platforms will be an asset.
• Prior UN work experience or experience of interacting with intergovernmental/governmental/non-government agencies and donors is highly desirable.
• Prior teaching experience at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels in the subject areas relevant to the activities of UNU-INWEH is highly desirable.
• Prior record of peer-reviewed publications in high-impact and interdisciplinary journals is required.
• Prior record of fundraising and securing grants for projects is desired.
• An excellent team player with strong interpersonal skills, as demonstrated by the ability to work in a multicultural, multi-ethnic environment with sensitivity and respect for diversity.

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in English is required.
• Knowledge of another UN official working language is an asset.

Source: https://careers.unu.edu//o/researcher-wash-psa-richmond-hill-on-canada-updated-6-aug-2024-2