Job Posting: Postdoctoral Associate in Food Equity

Applications are invited for an outstanding postdoctoral scholar to join a university-wide interdisciplinary research initiative on Food Equity and Global Health.

Joining an interdisciplinary team of faculty, post-docs, graduate students, and research staff across multiple schools, including the Schools of Public Health and Health Professions, the School of Architecture and Planning, and the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, the selected postdoctoral scholar will focus their research on alleviating food and related health inequities by harnessing the power of non-health disciplines including urban, regional and rural planning and policy; applied economics; international development; social work; or related disciplines. Postdocs will have the opportunity to explore how human health is influenced by inequities across complex environments, including social, built or chemical environments. The candidate will join the Planning for Regenerative Equitable Food Systems in Urbanizing Global Environments (Plan-REFUGE) project, under the larger Food Equity team, and develop a research portfolio working under the guidance of faculty mentors in the School of Architecture and Planning, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, and the School of Public Health and Health Professions. The primary mentor for this post-doctoral position is Dr. Samina Raja, and the successful candidate will join the UB Food Systems Planning and Healthy Communities Lab (Food Lab) housed in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning. The Food Lab is an inclusive lab team that values, and brings, diverse experiences to its collective work.

In this position, you will:

  • Conduct and publish independent research on the role of local government policy and planning on health and food equity. 
  • Contribute expertise to analyzing existing international and U.S.-based datasets.
  • Collaborate with faculty aligned with the Food Equity project in the Community for Global Health Equity.
  • Mentor and advise undergraduate and graduate students aligned with the Food Equity project in the Community for Global Health Equity and Food Lab. 
  • Develop research proposals, including generating original scholarship and contributing to ongoing research through the Community for Global Health Equity
  • Collaborate with international studies or cohorts at other institutions.

Minimum Qualifications

  • A doctorate in the following or related fields: urban and regional planning, international development, food systems, public health, engineering, and or public policy.
  • An eligible candidate’s dissertation and research interests should be related to advancing food equity and public health in a global setting, preferably in low-resource communities. Candidates with a US focus must have worked on food equity challenges experienced by refugee communities, especially those challenges that are compounded by intersections of race, class, and gender. 
  • Experience in conducting transdisciplinary research on food systems, food equity, and nutrition-related issues are essential. 
  • Experience in supervising graduate and undergraduate student research. 
  • Outstanding written and oral communication skills.

Preferred Qualifications

  • Candidates with quantitative or qualitative methodological strengths are welcome to apply. 
  • Familiarity with spatial analysis using Geographic Information Systems, social network analysis using UCINET, qualitative data analysis using NVivo, and quantitative data analysis using SPSS is a plus.
  • Experience with large qualitative or quantitative datasets is a plus.

Contact Information

Dr. Samina Raja, Professor, Urban and Regional Planning, Associate Dean for Research and Inclusive Excellence, Architecture and Planning, and Co-Director, Community for Global Health Equity at sraja@buffalo.edu