**
*Temporary Position Opening: Lead Researcher for Organic Farming Research
Foundation*
*
**Description:* The Organic Farming Research Foundation (OFRF) seeks a Lead
Researcher to conduct a comprehensive review of U.S., Canadian, and European
scientific literature on the environmental and social impacts of organic
agriculture including economic impacts on farms and society as a whole
("multifunctionality"). The Lead Researcher will produce an approximately
40-page report on the potential multiple benefits of organic agriculture in
North America with specific policy and research recommendations and an
annotated bibliography.
*Duties:*
- Develop a timeline for research and report completion within project
budget and overall project timeline
- Hire and direct research assistants to help compile the bibliography
- Assess the quality of available literature and select the most rigorous
citations to use in the analysis
- Analyze the content of published literature to generate an assessment
of the environmental, social, and economic impacts of organicagriculture
- Use this analysis to draft research and policy recommendations
- Incorporate comments from reviewers into final document as appropriate
- Identify areas where there are gaps in the published data and recommend
areas of future research
The successful candidate for the Lead Researcher position will work with OFRF
staff and an advisory committee comprised of scientists and communications
specialists throughout the project. Specialists identified by the advisory
committee, staff, and the Lead Researcher will review preliminary drafts of
the report.
*
Qualifications:*
- Demonstrated experience in conducting academic research and analysis
- Excellent writing and other communication skills
- Familiarity with organic agriculture and concepts related to
"multifunctionality" such as ecosystem services, assessing externalized
costs of production, agricultural life cycle analyses
- Experience managing support staff
- Experience working with a team
- Demonstrated ability to work within tight timelines and stay on
schedule
- Openness to external review and critique of one's work
The Lead Researcher will have the opportunity to present a draft version of
the report at the Tri Societies Annual Conference in early November 2010.
This will be a contracted position with compensation for completion being
$21,000. An additional budget of $9,000 is available to support research
assistants. The project may be managed from a location other than Santa Cruz
if necessary.
Applications will be due to OFRF June 18, 2010. The position will begin July.
Project completion is expected to be March 2011.
*
**To apply:* Interested and qualified candidates should submit a cover
letter, résumé, curriculum vitae, and writing samples relevant to the
qualifications outlined above. Please send applications via email by June
18, 2010, to Maureen Wilmot, *[log in to unmask]*. For confidential related
inquiries or additional information, phone Maureen Wilmot at 831-426-6606.
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