"Postdoctoral Associate, Urban Tipping Points Project"

We are seeking an outstanding Postdoctoral Associate to contribute to the Urban Tipping Points (UTIP) project—a global research initiative examining critical thresholds in urban social-ecological-technological systems (SETS), where small, incremental changes can trigger rapid, and often irreversible, transformations. These tipping points may be positive, catalyzing sustainability and resilience, or negative, deepening vulnerability, inequity, or collapse.

The Postdoctoral Associate will work at the intersection of climate risk assessment, public health, and urban ecology and systems science, contributing to a deeper understanding of where and when cities become vulnerable to rapid shifts, how they can scale up and replicate bright spots, and design systemic changes that underpin transformations.

The Postdoctoral Associate will contribute to the development of conceptual, empirical, and modeling approaches to better understand how cities can anticipate, adapt to, or intentionally catalyze tipping points to enable just and positive urban futures. This is a unique opportunity to advance cutting-edge systems research with real-world application, in collaboration with international partners including the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Stockholm Resilience Centre, Beijer Institute of Ecological Economics, Postdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), and others. This position will report to the Urban Systems Lab’s Director Dr. Timon McPhearson and contribute to a dynamic research program, with opportunities to mentor graduate researchers, lead interdisciplinary teams, and publish high-impact research.

Responsibilities:

• Contribute to the conceptualization of urban tippings points in the context of global tipping points research including social tipping points, positive tipping points, and climate driven tipping points
• Identify and analyze potential positive (or negative) urban social-ecological-technological system tipping points.
• Develop quantitative models, simulations, or data-driven frameworks to predict thresholds and cascading impacts.
• Work closely with an interdisciplinary team of scientists and researchers at USL and with project partners.
• Publish research in high-impact journals and present at conferences and workshops.
• Contribute to policy briefs, reports, and other outreach materials to inform urban planning and adaptation strategies.
• Supervise graduate research assistants and contribute to the Lab’s data and visualization initiatives.

In compliance with NYC’s Pay Transparency Act, the annual base salary for this position is $70,000. 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.

Qualifications:

• Ph.D. in Urban Ecology, Environmental Science, Climate Science, Urban Planning, Geography, Complex Systems, Data Science, or a related field.
• Demonstrated experience in quantitative modeling, simulation, or data-driven analysis of complex systems.
• Strong publication record in topics related to urban resilience, tipping points, or climate adaptation.
• Experience with spatial data analysis, statistical modeling, large data sets, or machine learning for urban or environmental data.
• Excellent writing, communication, and interdisciplinary collaboration skills.

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