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Research Associate – Energy & Environment Lab

Chicago

Job Title: Research Associate – Energy & Environment Lab (Full-Time, Benefits Eligible)

Location: Chicago, IL

Expected Start Date:  2026

About the Unit:

The University of Chicago’s Energy & Environment Lab (E&E Lab), led by Prof. Michael Greenstone, partners with federal, state, and local agencies to identify, rigorously evaluate, and help scale programs and policies that reduce pollution and improve environmental outcomes. Since its founding in 2015, the Lab has specialized in leveraging state-of-the-art advances in data analysis, monitoring, remote sensing, and experimental methods to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of environmental policy. The Lab leverages rigorous evaluation and modeling methods, including randomized controlled trials and machine learning, to help policymakers identify and generate evidence on innovative approaches and policy solutions to their most pressing environmental challenges.

Job Summary

The University of Chicago Energy & Environment Lab is seeking a Research Associate (RA) with strong research, methodological, and programming skills to support environmental policy research projects. The RA will work on a portfolio of projects designed to evaluate the impact of promising energy and environmental interventions. Typical research projects involve the analysis of environmental and energy data and implementing field experiments to provide government partners with guidance on key policy questions.

The successful candidate will have experience with data management, econometrics, and statistical modeling. The RA will contribute to all aspects of research, including data collection, model development, and implementation. This position requires an individual who is able to work as part of small research teams, and on multiple projects concurrently, while also being self-directed and independent. The position offers the opportunity to work directly with leading policy researchers and faculty at the University of Chicago and other universities, and policymakers in state and local environmental agencies.

Responsibilities

  • Works as part of research teams to contribute to development, design and implementation of applied economics research studies. 
  • Collaboratively leads data collection, study management, subject sampling, randomization, and analysis including cleaning and assembling datasets for analysis; conduct field research as needed.
  • Coordinates research activities, assists in preparing human subjects protocols, manages and analyzes data across multiple projects.
  • Contributes to building traditional statistical models and machine learning algorithms for a variety of research projects.
  • Prepares results of analysis for research papers, policy briefs, and memos and presentations targeting both policymakers and academic audiences.
  • Helps build and maintain strong relationships and effective communication with government agencies, and other research partners and organizations.
  • Conducts thorough and critical reviews of relevant literature.
  • Supports fundraising and reporting efforts, such as helping prepare grant proposals and progress reports to funders.
  • Maintains technical and administrative support for a portfolio of research projects.
  • Takes responsibility for the following non-laboratory duties: transcribing and coding data; developing data collection instruments; presenting research; and recruiting and scheduling research subjects. Acquires higher-level skills and knowledge in the process.
  • Maintains technical and administrative support for a research project.
  • Analyzes and maintains data and/or specimens. Conducts literature reviews. Assists with preparation of reports, manuscripts and other documents.
  • Performs other related work as needed.

Minimum Qualifications
Education:

Minimum requirements include a college or university degree in related field.

Work Experience:

Minimum requirements include knowledge and skills developed through two years of work experience in a related job discipline (summer and part time experience during school included). 

Preferred Qualifications

Education:

  • Bachelor's degree in economics, statistics, data science, computer science or other relevant field.
  • Coursework in econometrics and/or mathematical statistics. 

Experience:

  • A minimum of one year of relevant research experience. Experience gained in school counts towards requirement.
  • Background working on field experiments / randomized controlled trials.

Technical Skills or Knowledge:

  • Experience working with R, Python, and/or other programming languages.
  • Experience cleaning and analyzing data.
  • Experience building predictive models.

Preferred Competencies

  • Strong interest in environmental policy.
  • Extensive background in applied statistics and econometrics. 
  • Effective written and verbal communication skills. 
  • Work on multiple projects simultaneously and meet tight deadlines. 
  • Excellent organizational skills and attention to detail. 
  • Work both independently, in a self-directed manner, and as a team member.

Application Documents

  • Resume/CV (required)
  • Cover Letter (required)
  • Writing Sample (required)
  • Academic transcript(s)(required)

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