Canada Research Chair, Tier II in Extreme Climate Event Impacts on Communities (Assistant/Associate Professor)

University of Victoria

Deadline to apply: March 6, 2024

The Department of Geography in the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Victoria invites external applications from outstanding emerging scholars for a Canada Research Chair (CRC) in Extreme Climate Event Impacts on Communities. The successful applicant will be nominated by the University for a Tier 2 CRC and, upon approval by the CRC Secretariat, will be offered a position at the rank of Assistant or Associate Professor, with rank and tenure status determined after an assessment of accomplishments and experience. The anticipated start date is January 1, 2025.

Job Description: The successful candidate for this NSERC CRC in ‘Extreme Climate Event Impacts on Communities’ will apply their expertise as a solutions-focused, action-oriented, community-engaged researcher who employs and develops methods to examine climate and weather extremes in the context of community impacts and outcomes. This can take different forms, ranging from large-scale statistical/dynamical analysis of severe climate and weather event impacts down to high-resolution microscale measurement of individual building responses. The types of analyses this could encompass include:

1. Analysis of synoptic/weather drivers of heat dome, pollution, wildfire, or atmospheric river flooding events and the magnitude/duration thresholds that result in different adverse impacts on community infrastructure and/or human health;
2. Direct monitoring (instrumenting) of buildings to determine structured responses to weather-related stressors;
3. Integrated analyses for the emergency management of complex systems, for example: impacts of extreme weather events on the capacity of cities to provide essential urban services, or the structure and function of community contexts in shaping and driving risk and resilience to extreme events, e.g. morbidity and mortality trends, hospital infrastructure surge capacity and networking.

The University seeks an emerging world-class researcher to investigate issues associated with climate change impacts on communities. The successful candidate is expected to undertake the following:

• lead a high-quality, original research program with the potential to achieve international recognition;
• produce high calibre scholarly outputs;
• create a mentoring environment that attracts and supports highly qualified and diverse graduate students and other mentees;
• and address and build local, regional, national, and ultimately, international capacity around climate change, adaptation and resilience-building priorities.

Their research will be grounded in extensive analytical projects tailored to specific applications that can inform knowledge mobilization, decision-making and policy. Where appropriate, projects will be co-developed with stakeholders or communities or community-led.

Applicants must demonstrate their support for equity, diversity and inclusion in university and other settings; and show understanding and, if possible, experience in working respectfully and effectively with Indigenous and rural and remote communities.

The Chair is also expected to be an effective and engaged teacher, as demonstrated via external class assessments and indicators of investment in pedagogical training, with experience in fostering inclusive class environments and with the ability to teach core courses in geography. In particular, this CRC will contribute to teaching capacity in our new, first of its kind, BSc Climate Science program.

Preferential Hire: The University encourages applicants who identify as: Indigenous, women and those with gender diverse identities, persons with disabilities, and members of visible minorities. This is a “preferential hire”, which means in accordance with the University’s Equity Plan and pursuant to Section 42 of the BC Human Rights Code, preference will be given to members of the following groups: Indigenous peoples, persons with disabilities, people of Black, African, and Caribbean-descent, people of colour, people of diverse gender identities or expression and/or diverse sexual orientations. Candidates who wish to qualify for preferential consideration must clearly self-identify in their cover letter. The committee will review other applications if it does not find a suitable candidate in the initial pool.

Qualifications: The successful candidate will possess the following qualifications:

• An earned PhD in Geography or related discipline (at least one degree must be from Geography)
• Must have updated or developed and taught at least one undergraduate university course
• Must have secured external grant funding as a PI or co-PI
• Must be able to demonstrate contributions to your university, profession, and the public.
• Must be able to articulate how you have contributed to integrating equity, diversity and inclusion into your research and teaching.
• Must qualify for the Canada Research Chair program

For additional information about the position and how to apply, please visit the full posting: www.uvic.ca/faculty-staff/careers/faculty-and-librarian-postings/current/geog_280_186.php