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Assistant Project Scientist - Berkeley Carbon Trading Project

Position overview
Salary range: The UC academic salary scales set the minimum pay determined by rank and step at appointment. See the following table for the current salary scale for this position: https://www.ucop.edu/academic-personnel-programs/_files/2024-25/july-2024-scales/t37-b.pdf. A reasonable full-time salary estimate for this position is $74,100 - $85,900.

Percent time: 25% time initially with the option to increase the percent time as funding is made available.

Anticipated start: June 1, 2025

Position duration: 1.5 years with possibility of extension

Application Window
Open date: April 18, 2025

Next review date: Saturday, May 3, 2025 at 11:59pm (Pacific Time)
Apply by this date to ensure full consideration by the committee.

Final date: Monday, May 19, 2025 at 11:59pm (Pacific Time)
Applications will continue to be accepted until this date, but those received after the review date will only be considered if the position has not yet been filled.

Position description

The Berkeley Carbon Trading Project (BCTP) is a coordinated research and engagement program dedicated to studying the effectiveness of carbon trading and offset programs and ensuring that this understanding informs program design. The new Project Scientist will focus on the engagement elements of our work through research, analysis, writing, and engagement with policymakers and market actors. This role will both keep tabs on what is happening in the policy and market spaces to help guide our research so that it's most relevant, and also work to make sure that our research findings influence policy and the market. This involves research on market evolution including corporate interest in a shift to contributions approaches, keeping up on market and policy dynamics and changes, helping our research teams engage with market actors during our research and leading some of that engagement, and engaging with market actors, policymakers, and media after we release our results.

The first year of this position will focus on BCTP's workstream on wetlands and mangrove restoration. As the carbon market wrestles with chronic quality concerns, many high-profile standards bodies, credit purchasers, and policies are shifting attention from emissions reductions to durable carbon removals.

Wetland/mangrove restoration has tremendous potential for durable removals, and is also an important way to protect coasts and coastal communities from rising seas and to protect and expand coastal ecosystems. Yet less than a dozen of the thousands of projects on the voluntary carbon market that have generated credits support wetland restoration. The purpose of BCTP's wetland restoration project is to assess the quality of existing carbon crediting methodologies and concretely envision approaches to bringing private funds into this important project type. The new engagement-focused project scientist will lead the team's exploration of how to turn our assessments of the outcomes of current programs and current funding needs into practical recommendations for carbon finance structures to direct private contributions to accurately quantified well-designed wetland restoration activities. The role also involves communicating our recommendations, and the reasons for them founded in previous BCTP research, to policymakers and market actors.

Key Tasks

Research & Writing

• Conduct research on corporate climate contributions/offsetting strategies, compliance programs, and carbon market trends, with a focus on contributions-style approaches.
• Perform research on finance mechanisms for wetland restoration.
• Write commentaries for journal publication.

Policy Engagement

• Draft public comments on carbon market governance, including within the NGO space (SBTi, GHGp, ISO, ETA, VCMI, ICVCM, et al.).
• As appropriate, engage with policymakers on emerging regulatory frameworks, including carbon credit quality standards, contributions program structures, and compliance market design.
• Develop policy briefs.

Market Engagement

• Monitor trends in voluntary and compliance markets, including corporate purchasing strategies and policy shifts, and emerging technologies and approaches for offset developers.
• Lead and support our team's engagement with corporate supporters of nature-based solutions.

Media & Public Commentary

• Support media engagements on carbon markets and offsets.
• Contribute expert insights to journalists covering carbon finance.
• Represent BCTP at relevant events, conferences, etc.
• Manage BCTP's blog.

Fundraising & Institutional Growth

• Support project fundraising efforts.
• Lead on select funding outreach efforts related to carbon market and alternative contributions approaches governance and policy.

Program: https://gspp.berkeley.edu/research-and-impact/centers/cepp/projects/berkeley-carbon-trading-project

Qualifications
Basic qualifications (required at time of application)
PhD or equivalent international degree.

Preferred qualifications

• Research experience related to carbon markets and/or nature-based solutions
• Record of independent research and publication, including leading research design and analysis and writing for both academic and policy audiences.
• Expertise in wetlands or mangroves is a plus.
• Demonstrated ability to write effectively for diverse audiences.
• Ability to work and communicate across disciplines and with policy makers and carbon market actors.
• Ability to communicate effectively with various carbon market actors, including policy makers, journalists, companies participating in the market, and communities affected by projects.
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills and ability to work both independently and as a team member.
• Commitment to quality, in the carbon market and also in research and writing with close attention to detail and confidence in findings.
• Experience writing grant and funding proposals and communicating with funders.

Application Requirements

Document requirements

• Curriculum Vitae - Your most recently updated C.V.
• Cover Letter

Reference requirements

• 3 required (contact information only)

Apply link: https://aprecruit.berkeley.edu/JPF04895

Help contact: aaschiller@berkeley.edu

About UC Berkeley

UC Berkeley is committed to diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging. The excellence of the institution requires an environment in which the diverse community of faculty, students, and staff are welcome and included. Successful candidates will demonstrate knowledge and skill related to ensuring equity and inclusion in the activities of their academic position (e.g., teaching, research, and service, as applicable).

The University of California, Berkeley is an Equal Opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, age, or protected veteran status.

Please refer to the University of California's Affirmative Action and Nondiscrimination in Employment Policy and the University of California's Anti-Discrimination Policy.

In searches when letters of reference are required all letters will be treated as confidential per University of California policy and California state law. Please refer potential referees, including when letters are provided via a third party (i.e., dossier service or career center), to the UC Berkeley statement of confidentiality prior to submitting their letter.

As a University employee, you will be required to comply with all applicable University policies and/or collective bargaining agreements, as may be amended from time to time. Federal, state, or local government directives may impose additional requirements.

As a condition of employment, the finalist will be required to disclose if they are subject to any final administrative or judicial decisions within the last seven years determining that they committed any misconduct, are currently being investigated for misconduct, left a position during an investigation for alleged misconduct, or have filed an appeal with a previous employer.

• "Misconduct" means any violation of the policies or laws governing conduct at the applicant's previous place of employment, including, but not limited to, violations of policies or laws prohibiting sexual harassment, sexual assault, or other forms of harassment, discrimination, dishonesty, or unethical conduct, as defined by the employer.
• UC Sexual Violence and Sexual Harassment Policy
• UC Anti-Discrimination Policy for Employees, Students and Third Parties
• APM - 035: Affirmative Action and Nondiscrimination in Employment

Job location
Berkeley, CA


To apply, visit https://aprecruit.berkeley.edu/JPF04895