Post Doctoral Associate -Rural Economic Resilience & Food Systems

The Postdoctoral Associate will conduct applied economic and community-engaged research jointly supporting two related research programs under the supervision of Dr. Andrew Van Leuven. Approximately 60% of the position’s effort will support an NSF EPSCoR project focused on rural climate resilience, which examining how severe weather, extreme heat, and harmful algal blooms affect rural labor markets, downtown business activity, and recreation economies.

The remaining 40% will support UVM Food Systems Research Institute-funded work examining climate effects on rural food business dynamics (e.g., restaurant and grocery entries and exits) and rural food systems infrastructure, building on ongoing FSRI-supported research.

The postdoc will help with leading in-person and virtual interviews with New England business owners, municipal officials, and consumers; conducting causal-inference analysis of high-frequency foot-traffic, consumer-spending, and satellite-derived environmental data; and contributing to manuscript preparation, presentations, and public-facing outputs.

Applications will close October 31, 2026.

Questions? Contact Dr. Andrew Van Leuven leuven