Postdoctoral Associate

The Department of Agricultural, Leadership, and Community Education (ALCE), in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) at Virginia Tech invites applications for a Postdoctoral Associate - Civic Science Fellow with a focus on food systems resilience, Cooperative Extension, and science-policy collaborations. This position is co-hosted by the Virginia Tech Center for Food Systems and Community Transformation, an Extension center in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and the Learning and Organizational Development Office within Virginia Cooperative Extension (VCE). This position will be hybrid with a minimum expectation of 1 campus visit every 6 months for a total of 3 visits. Because the position involves regular collaboration with Virginia Tech faculty, staff, and Extension partners, candidates should be available to work primarily during Eastern Standard Time business hours.

This 18-month fellowship, funded by the Rita Allen Foundation, (anticipated start: September 2026) is part of the Civic Science Fellows program and will support a research and practice-based project titled “Exploring Cooperative Extension as Civic Science Infrastructure for Food Systems Resilience.” The Fellow, with support and mentorship from the hosts, will lead the investigation into how Cooperative Extension systems across the United States function as civic science infrastructure. This work will examine science–policy collaborations between Extension professionals and local governments. The project details will be co-designed with the Fellow; however, we envision conducting a survey of Extension systems nationwide, followed by qualitative inquiry into successful science-policy collaborations addressing complex challenges issues related to food systems resilience.

During the 18-month period the Fellow will dedicate approximately 75 percent of their time (~30 hours/week) to their host institution project, and 25 percent (~10 hours/week) to shared learning and networking activities as part of the Civic Science program, including periodic convenings with a cohort of other Fellows across the nation.

The position is designed for an early-career scholar-practitioner, defined as someone within five years of earning a terminal degree, and interested in the integration of science and society, particularly around land-grant and Extension science-policy engagement.

Key Responsibilities

The Civic Science Fellow will:

• Co-design and lead the implementation of a multi-phase research project examining Extension–local government collaborations, including: Literature review on civic science and science–policy engagement; National survey of Cooperative Extension systems; Qualitative research (e.g., interviews, case studies)
• Generate original empirical data and analysis on how Extension supports community-informed, science-based decision-making for food systems resilience
• Contribute to the development of a capacity-building program supporting science–policy collaboration within Virginia Cooperative Extension and beyond
• Disseminate findings through peer-reviewed publications, Extension outputs, and presentations to academic and practitioner audiences
• Engage collaboratively with faculty, Extension professionals, community partners, and national networks
• Independently manage and execute a fellowship project aligned with program goals while contributing to broader institutional initiatives

Required Qualifications

• Earned terminal degree in a social sciences discipline such as food systems, agricultural education and/or extension education, community development, life sciences and/or agricultural communication, public policy, geography, sociology, or another position-relevant discipline. Degree must be awarded no more than four years prior to the effective date of appointment with a minimum of one year eligibility remaining.
• Experience conducting qualitative research and basic quantitative survey analysis
• Knowledge of food systems, food security, or resilience
• Demonstrated ability to engage professionally with diverse populations, including university, Extension, and community-based stakeholders
• Experience working with Cooperative Extension, local governments, or community-based organizations
• Experience working both independently and collaboratively with a high degree of initiative and self-motivation
• Demonstrated ability to independently manage projects, prioritize tasks, and meet deadlines in a dynamic research environment

Preferred Qualifications

• Professional experience in an aspect of civic science such as science-policy engagement, organizational partnerships, community-engaged research, and/or science communication
• Demonstrated experience translating research findings into applied curricular or Extension training resources
• Demonstrated experience publishing professional scholarship, including peer-reviewed publications, grant writing, or other applied and scholarly outputs