Laboratory Associate – Climate and Migration

Role Overview

The Urban Systems Lab seeks a Laboratory Associate to contribute to research on climate and migration. The Associate will work within an interdisciplinary environment that integrates climate science, urban ecology, spatial analysis, social science, and planning.

The initial focus of this position will be to conduct foundational desk research on climate, and in particular climate-related migration, in order to identify specific research questions and define problem areas of interest. The Associate will subsequently work with the Lab’s Director to scope a right-sized project to take leadership of, with major contributions to white papers and peer-reviewed publications as expected outputs. These efforts will build upon existing projects at the Urban Systems Lab and in particular ClimateIQ, which offers a wealth of data on climate-related risks.

The ideal candidate is a motivated self-starter with a demonstrated interest in climate and migration topics and developing professional research skills in partner-facing coordination as well as engagement and co-production techniques. As a small percentage of time, the Associate will also contribute to project-related event support.

This position will report to Timon McPhearson, Director of the Urban Systems Lab.

Responsibilities

Research Activities on Climate and Migration

This position will contribute to applied, policy-relevant research examining how hazards and community-driven adaptation strategies shape urban vulnerability, resilience, and population mobility, particularly in frontline and historically marginalized communities. Activities include:

• Conducting foundational desk research, such as literature reviews, to define the problem space and identify specific research topics.
• Assisting in convening a roundtable of experts during the 2026-2027 academic year.
• Supporting the development and application of spatial, statistical, or mixed-methods approaches to analyze urban climate risk, adaptation pathways, and social outcomes across cities and regions.
• Contributing to white papers, peer-reviewed publications, policy briefs, data storytelling, and reports.
• Proposing new research projects in collaboration with USL researchers.
• Other research support tasks, as needed.

Partner Coordination and Community Engagement

This role will participate in research work related to New Orleans and Puerto Rican communities, with the potential to contribute to other ongoing projects such as ClimateIQ. In particular, this position will:

• Support coordination and communications with project partners through assisting with agenda preparation, note-taking during meetings, and documentation of action items.
• Help facilitate engagement activities – contribute to workshop design and planning, assist with moderation of small groups in workshops, coordinate preparation, note-taking, recap reports etc.

Event Support

As a small percentage of time, this position will also assist in the coordination of Urban Systems Lab events related to research projects. The Associate will:

• Support coordination with venues, vendors, and guests.
• Assist with event-specific communications – announcements, invitations, coordination emails, and event surveys.
• Other tasks as needed

This position is based in New York and the selected candidate will be expected to work onsite as of their effective start date.

In compliance with NYC’s Pay Transparency Act, the annual base salary range for this position is $62,500. New York University considers factors such as (but not limited to) the specific grant funding and the terms of the research grant when extending an offer.

Required Qualifications

• Advanced degree (MS or equivalent) in a relevant field such as environmental science, urban planning, geography, data science.
• Research experience related to climate risk, flood hazards, climate adaptation, nature-based solutions, and/or climate-related migration.
• Demonstrated interest in engagement and co-production techniques.
• Experience managing scientific data, with strong organizational and documentation skills.
• Excellent writing, communication, and interdisciplinary collaboration skills.
• Experience in event planning, outreach, and stakeholder engagement.

Preferred Qualifications

• Professional proficiency in Spanish and English strongly preferred, with ability to support Spanish-first partner interactions and culturally/contextually appropriate terminology.