Research Scientist in Decision Support - Drought

The Institute on the Environment (IonE), Knowledge Initiatives team at the University of Minnesota, invites a Decision Support Researcher to advance our decision support science portfolio, an area of work that focuses on the processes and tools that enable evidence-based decision‑making in public and private sectors. The researcher will be critical to the strategy and implementation of mixed‑methods approaches to rigorously assess and test the usability of environmental data products.

This position is focused on a proposed project titled, "Empirical Evaluation of Visual Strategies for Communicating Probabilistic Drought Outlooks to Enhance Impact‑Based Decision Support for Stakeholders". This research focuses on improving how probabilistic drought outlooks are visually designed and shared with the public and other decision‑makers. Building on earlier work to redesign deterministic drought outlooks, this research will evaluate how different visual strategies affect people’s ability to understand and use drought forecasts.

This project has a firm end date, so it requires a researcher with direct experience in probabilistic drought outlooks to advance the project quickly.
Funding and the timing of this position is dependent on external funding from Federal grants. Currently, this position is scheduled to end on March 31, 2027.

• 80% designing, conducting, and analyzing mixed‑methods data using multidisciplinary social science research methods
  . Activities, which require regular team collaboration and expertise to work independently, include:
  • 70% Research Design and Data Collection, Management and Analys
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    • conducting literature reviews and formal document analyses
    • preparation and review of Institutional Review Board (IRB) documentation for human subjects determinations
    • designing and conducting semi‑interviews with experts
    • developing and carrying out survey research
    • human subjects data curation and metadata documentation and data repository submissions, given best practices and grant requirements
    • qualitative and quantitative data analysis, summarizing results, and collaboratively discussing research findings and implications
  • 10% Research Communication and Dissemination
    • Author or co‑author peer‑reviewed publications developed based on this research.
    • Conduct dissemination activities and develop documents to accelerate and increase the use of research findings for operational uses.
• 20% Research Coordination, Collaboration, and Research Operations
  • support on other research projects as needed and as aligned with the employees expertise
  • regular communication with and coordination with project team members, including project‑focused research mentorship of IonE Postdoctoral Fellows
  • project management and coordination including project goal setting, documentation of administrative, research workflows, and project management processes, regular project progress summaries via team meetings, and other project‑related items
  • adopt IonE research software, data, and metadata best practices related to archiving, documentation, and accessibility
  • organize, document, and share work in Basecamp, Google suite collaborative products, and fully adopt team file organization structure, communication norms, and research project management best practices

Our offices are located in St. Paul, MN. This position is structured as P4 allowing employees to work remotely given the engagement priorities within the Midwest region and across the nation. The person must have a high‑speed internet connection and an appropriate office space to allow for remote work. The person will be expected to engage via web‑conferencing, attend important IonE events and meetings, and…