Postdoctoral Fellow, Resource Insecurity and Sustainable Livelihoods with the Global and Environmental Health Lab

About GEHLab

The Global and Environmental Health Lab is based at York University’s Dahdaleh Institute for Global Health Research. Led by Dr. Godfred O. Boateng (Assistant Professor at the School of Global Health and Canada Research Chair in Global Health and Humanitarianism), GEHLab seeks to advance innovative, rigorous research at the intersection of environmental change and health outcomes around the world, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Our work is clustered under four main themes:

1. Resource insecurity, health and sustainable livelihoods
2. Environmental pollution, climatic conditions and health effects (EPACC)
3. Social inequalities in health
4. Scale development and measurement of health indicators

Projects include ongoing research to comprehensively measure resource insecurity (i.e., water, food, housing, and energy insecurity) in Ghana, Colombia and other countries across the Global South. Methodological innovation and global partnerships are the cornerstone of our work. Current institutional partners include the Center for Scientific and Industrial Research – Water Institute (Ghana), the University of Andes (Colombia) and Pamoja CBO (Kenya). We also regularly collaborate with researchers in the U.S., Canada, Ghana, Nigeria and Colombia, emphasizing North-South knowledge sharing and capacity-building. GEHLab’s work is informed by a commitment to multidisciplinary perspectives to generate ingenious methods for understanding longstanding public health issues, and encouraging cutting-edge solutions for policy, academic and grassroots stakeholders.

About the position

Working with Dr. Godfred Boateng on a 12-month term, the Postdoctoral Fellow will support implementation of projects under the resource insecurity, health and sustainable livelihoods and environmental pollution, climatic conditions and health effects themes. Recent output under these themes include the Multilevel Multidimensional Housing Insecurity Scale (MMHIS). Ongoing projects under this theme include the Household Energy Insecurity and Health Assessment (HEINS) project (Colombia); Objective Validation of Resource Insecurity Tools (OVRIT) project (Ghana); Cross-cultural Validation of Resource Insecurity Scales in Africa; and Ecological Degradation and Health Implications for Older Adults (Canada).

Thus, the objectives of this fellowship are to:

1. Strengthen methodological capacity in the development and validation of resource insecurity scales, particularly for building proxy measures for use in low- and middle-income contexts
2. Gain understanding on novel approaches to studying resource insecurity among various social groups in the Global South
3. Build capacity in working collaboratively with partners in the Global South to co-construct context-relevant research priorities and public health solutions

The successful applicant will also be designated as Research Fellows at the Dahdaleh Institute for Global Health Research (DIGHR). The Dahdaleh Institute is a leading Organized Research Unit (ORU) at York University dedicated to advancing solutions to global health challenges under three thematic areas, being planetary health, global health and humanitarianism, and global health foresighting. The Institute houses a diverse group of faculty and scholars in and outside the York University community, and encourages knowledge sharing with weekly seminars and other programming.

Key responsibilities

1. Supporting project management by managing key research activities with partners, including preparing ethics protocols and data collection instruments, data management, and management of research logistics
2. Publish peer-reviewed articles and present at an international public health conference
3. Contribute to evidence generation and synthesis by identifying, organizing and summarizing relevant literature on resource insecurity and scale development using collaborative tools such as Zotero
4. Support knowledge mobilization efforts by writing articles, preparing visualizations and proposing creative ways to disseminate research findings
5. Attend and participate in weekly meetings with research partners
6. Support supervision of GEHLab interns and research assistants by providing relevant training on research methods, updating interns and RAs on project deliverables, and providing updates to the PI
7. Support grant writing and development

Requirements

Essential skills

• PhD in Global Health, Public Health, Sociology, Computational Social Science, Human Geography, Environmental Health, Environmental Studies, Epidemiology
• Demonstrated experience analyzing data using STATA, Mplus, R and/or Python.
• Demonstrated experience in qualitative data collection and analysis, particularly participatory action research
• Demonstrated interest in resource insecurity, sustainability and global health outcomes
• Keen interest in building skills in scale development and validation
• Ability to work independently and collaboratively with international research teams
• Promising publication track record, with interest in mixed methods approaches
• Strong time management and organization skills
• Strong writing and communication skills

Desirable skills

• Experience with machine learning using Python, R
• Experience with geospatial analysis using GIS software
• Previous experience writing grants to the Tri-council agencies (NSERC, SSHRC and CIHR) and international funders

How to apply

Please submit the following documents in one PDF document:

1. An updated CV
2. A cover letter explaining how your current research interests and broader research agenda align with this position
3. A writing sample or recent published papers if applicable

Submissions should be directed to Dr. Godfred Boateng via email at gboaten@yorku.ca by 20^th December 2024, with the subject line GEHLAB 2024 Postdoctoral Fellow Application – Resource Insecurity and Sustainable Livelihoods. We will prioritize candidates who are authorized to work in and are currently in Canada and are able to work in-person at York University’s Keele Campus. In case of any questions or concerns, please email Dr. Godfred Boateng (gboaten@yorku.ca) or Eyram Agbe (eyrama13@my.yorku.ca).

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