Trees Are Coming To Your Neighborhood. That Might Not Be Enough.

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Decades of racist zoning and housing practices cast a long shadow in Seattle, sometimes literally. Wealthy white areas like those surrounding Discovery Park and the Arboretum enjoy ample tree cover and shade, while less-affluent neighborhoods are gray with concrete, trapping heat and extending high summer temperatures into the night. Dr. Jason Vogel, interim director of the Climate Impacts Group, is quoted. 

Join our team and support climate justice research & outreach!

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Do you have a background in the social sciences and a passion for climate or environmental justice? Apply to join the Climate Impacts Group team!

The Climate Impacts Group is hiring a research scientist to support climate justice research and outreach through the Northwest Climate Resilience Collaborative. This position will contribute to a body of work that focuses on moving climate adaptation and climate justice into an implementation space. The research scientist will help create case studies and synthesis reports related to climate justice, community-based research and projects within the Northwest Climate Resilience Collaborative. Additionally, this position will support the development and logistics of a climate justice summer institute and other projects.

We are seeking candidates with a background in public policy, geography or other social science fields. Candidates should also have experience with climate/environmental justice and/or working directly with frontline communities. While educational attainment is valued, we also encourage applications from practitioners who have worked in government, non-profits and consulting who can bring a practical orientation to the CIG team.

The expected salary range for this position is $4,649-$6,000 per month depending on experience. This position is located in Seattle.

Although this position will remain open until filled, applicant screening will begin March 25. To learn more and apply, please visit the UW Hires website. We look forward to reviewing your application!

APPLY NOW

The Northwest Climate Resilience Collaborative is a NOAA-funded program housed at the University of Washington Climate Impacts Group. The Resilience Collaborative is a participatory research program designed to support Tribes and frontline communities in improving their resilience to climate change. The Resilience Collaborative brings together 11 different partner organizations across Washington, Oregon, Montana and Idaho. 

Questions and answers about this position:

We will post answers to questions we receive about this position on this webpage to ensure transparency and equity in our hiring process. Please check back occasionally for more information.

Would you consider hiring a remote applicant? 

We are open to this position being remotely located within our service region of Washington, Oregon and Idaho. Occasional travel to Seattle would be required (approximately two to four times per year).

I am interested in applying to this position as a graduate student. Would it be possible for me to take on this role part-time? 

This is a full time position, although there might be flexibility in allowing you time to finish your graduate studies should we find a mutually agreeable arrangement. I encourage you to submit an application.

Apply Today! Science Justice Summer School

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Update | February 22, 2024: The application deadline has been extended to Monday, March 11.

Update | February 15, 2024: This post has been updated to clarify that only graduate students and postdoctoral researchers from the University of Washington, Seattle University and Seattle Pacific University are eligible to apply for the Science Justice Summer School. We apologize for any confusion. 

Are you a grad student or postdoc at the University of Washington, Seattle University or Seattle Pacific University who is interested in applying climate and environmental justice frameworks in your work? Consider applying to the Northwest Climate Resilience Collaborative’s first-ever Science Justice Summer School! This two-week program will dive into a range of justice-related topics through lectures, discussion groups and more. Applications close Monday, March 11 at 11:59 p.m. 

The Science Justice Summer School will run from July 10-24, 2024, on the University of Washington campus in Seattle. The Summer School is open to second-year master’s students, Ph.D. students, recent graduates of master’s or Ph.D. programs (as of Winter or Spring Quarter 2024) and postdoctoral fellows. We welcome students from all disciplines (sciences, social sciences, humanities). The Resilience Collaborative will provide 10-15 stipends of $2,000 to qualified applicants. Students should be living within daily commuting distance of the UW Seattle campus as no housing stipends are available for this year’s program.

APPLY TODAY!

Northwest Climate Resilience Collaborative Announces Community Grant Awardees

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The Northwest Climate Resilience Collaborative is thrilled to announce the five awardees of the Community Grants Program. Community Grants fund justice-focused, environmental and climate projects that advance community-centered resilience priorities. These one-year grants support nonprofits, community organizations and Tribes from Washington, Idaho and Oregon. 

More than 40 organizations submitted letters of intent and nearly 20 organizations were invited to submit full applications. Applications were reviewed by a group of UW faculty and community experts independent of the Northwest Climate Resilience Collaborative. They were evaluated based on their relevance to climate and environmental justice and impact on frontline communities. Learn more about the organizations and their projects: 

Black Star Farmers 

Location: Seattle, Wash.

Black Star Farmers (BSF) is a coalition of people with diverse identities working towards the radical reclamation of land and food sovereignty for all beings. We achieve this through land stewardship, mutual aid, education, and direct action. Black Star Farmers reclaims Black and Indigenous relationships with the land, improving BIPOC communities’ food sovereignty, and guides difficult discussions about racial inequality.

This project will support regular public gatherings on the second and fourth Sunday of the month at Black Lives Memorial Garden in Cal Anderson Park and other gardens around Seattle. Activities include garden stewarding, community engagement, education, and mutual aid food distribution. These events bring communities together in gardens throughout Seattle to reflect on the importance of collective liberation, and how to imagine, make, and maintain local, sustainable, seed-to-seed gardens.

blackstarfarmers.org 

 

United Territories Of Pacific Islanders Alliance – UTOPIA 

Location: Kent, Wash. 

UTOPIA Washington is a queer and trans people of color-led, grassroots organization born out of the struggles, challenges, strength and resilience of the queer and trans Pacific Islander community in the South King County area. Our Mission: We are actively replacing systems of oppression with ecosystems of care and safety for all our communities through Black and Brown organizing, prioritizing land and bodily autonomy, and reclaiming our cultural narratives. We envision a world of abundance, autonomy and harmony, where all forms of supremacy cease to exist for all life.

Through our SPEAC Change program (Systems, Policies, Environmental, and Cultural Change), we are committed to the establishment and execution of a Climate Justice Cohort comprising of QTPI (Queer and Transgender Pacific Islanders) and 2SLBTQIA+. This initiative aims to cultivate community leadership, community-driven advocacy, and a deepened understanding of our current positioning and significance within the Climate and Environmental Justice movement. With this endeavor, participants will engage in structured training, forge meaningful relationships, allocate deliberate periods of collaboration, partake in community-based participatory research and leverage a diverse array of organizational tools. The overarching objective of the cohort program is to provide a solid foundation that empowers QTPI and 2SLGBTQI+ members to occupy the forefront of climate resilience and advocacy with unwavering confidence and unapologetic determination.

utopiawa.org 

 

Oregon Rural Action 

Location: La Grande, Ore. 

Oregon Rural Action is a grassroots and culturally diverse community-led organization in Eastern Oregon. Our mission is to promote social justice, agricultural and economic sustainability, and stewardship of the region’s land, air, and water. Through community organizing, public conversations, and policy advocacy, Oregon Rural Action is building a rural movement for the well-being of all people and our environment. 

Our project aims to build water security and resiliency in the Lower Umatilla Basin by ensuring access to safe drinking water in the short term and building towards improved water supply solutions in the long term. Building on the partnership with the Northwest Climate Resilience Collaborative, we will engage and build new leaders, expand our geographic reach and build collective power and influence to access sources of clean drinking water permanently. The goal of this work is to help the community authentically contribute to decision-making on mitigating nitrate in groundwater and ensuring access to safe drinking water. 

www.oregonrural.org 

 

Greater Hells Canyon Council 

Location: Northeast Oregon, Southeast Washington, West Idaho 

Greater Hells Canyon Council (GHCC) is a place-based conservation organization that serves Northeast Oregon, Southeast Washington and West Idaho. We work with many collaborators and allies to connect, protect, and restore the wild lands, waters, native species and habitats of the Greater Hells Canyon Region, ensuring a legacy of healthy ecosystems for generations. Greater Hells Canyon Council is also a founding member of the Tribally-convened Camas to Condors Partnership, which weaves the values, priorities and traditional stewardship practices of the Nez Perce Tribe into regional climate adaptation work. 

With support from the community grant, we will support three areas of work with the Camas to Condors Partnership. First, the funding will resource traditional Nez Perce gatherers’ work on the Seasonal Round Trail, which establishes a living lab across the elevational gradient in Nimiipuu homelands to track climate impacts to culturally important species and places. Second, this funding will help maintain Greater Hells Canyon Council’s facilitative role in the Camas to Condors Partnership; third, it will support the broader Tribal community’s participation in two events: a camas pit bake on the Nez Perce Reservation in fall 2023 and a roots and/or berries gathering outing in Wallowa County, Oregon in spring or summer 2024. 

hellscanyon.org

 

Upper Snake River Tribes Foundation 

Location: The Burns Paiute Tribe in Burns Oregon; the Fort McDermitt Paiute and Shoshone Tribe in McDermitt in Nevada and Oregon; the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes in Idaho; the Shoshone-Paiute Tribes in Owyhee Idaho and Oregon

The Upper Snake River Tribes (USRT) Foundation is an intertribal consortia comprised of four member tribes: the Burns Paiute Tribe, the Fort McDermitt Paiute and Shoshone Tribe, the Shoshone-Bannock Tribe, and the Shoshone-Paiute Tribe. The Upper Snake River Tribes Foundation works to ensure the protection, enhancement, and restoration of natural and cultural resources, activities, and rights of the tribes. The Foundation’s tribes experience disproportionate impacts from climate change while also being some of the most under-resourced tribes in the nation. 

The Foundation will use community grant funding to continue to build and strengthen its Community and Youth Climate Education program through 2024. Building off of a Tribal Youth Climate Camp held in August 2022, this program will include a two-week summer camp and four climate field trips. The goals of this program are to 1) educate tribal youth on climate change and how it impacts their community, 2) encourage youth to pursue higher education in climate-related fields, and 3) empower tribal youth to engage with climate science within their communities. This program gives the tribal youth a sense of stability, making the camps and activities something they can look forward to every year. 

uppersnakerivertribes.org 

UW Climate Impacts Group and partner organizations launch the Northwest Climate Resilience Collaborative 

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The UW Climate Impacts Group, along with nine community, nonprofit, and university partners, is launching a program of community-led, justice-oriented climate adaptation work across Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana. The Northwest Climate Resilience Collaborative will be founded with a five-year, $5.6 million grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The program will be one of eleven across the country funded through NOAA’s Regional Integrated Sciences and Assessments program.

The Northwest Climate Resilience Collaborative will advance efforts to adapt to climate change in frontline communities — communities that have been excluded from spaces of power and who are disproportionately facing the impacts of climate change.

The program will be led by Climate Impacts Group Director Amy Snover, with several community members and university partners steering the direction of the Collaborative as members of the Leadership Team. The Leadership Team will include Snover along with Aurora Martin, co-executive director of Front and Centered; Don Sampson, climate change program director of the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians; Jennifer Allen, associate professor and senior fellow of the Institute for Sustainable Solutions at Portland State University and Russell Callender, director of Washington Sea Grant.

“Many incredible organizations across Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington are joining with the UW Climate Impacts Group to work toward a future where all people and communities can thrive,” Snover said. “It is my hope that the Northwest Climate Resilience Collaborative will push the climate adaptation field toward equity and justice. I am proud that the Climate Impacts Group is helping to steward this shift, guided by the leadership of frontline communities, and I am honored by the trust and collaboration from these community partners.”

Projects led by the Collaborative will build climate resilience in rural communities and coastal tribal communities, while leveraging the successes from these projects to inform policy and work in other regions. The Collaborative is innovative in the climate adaptation sciences and services fields for its community engagement model; explicit focus on community priorities, equity and justice; and for centering the voices of frontline communities in its effort.

“This Collaborative aligns with Front and Centered’s approach which is data driven and follows the leadership, knowledge, and expertise of frontline communities disproportionately impacted by climate and environmental change,” Aurora Martin said. “We are excited to work with our partners to center equity — reducing uneven barriers to participation and climate preparedness and resilience — so that our communities and future generations can thrive.”

In the first year of the Resilience Collaborative, leadership and partners working in coastal tribal communities will focus on assessing the state of climate readiness among Northwest coastal tribes. From there, they will identify steps to accelerate tribal adaptation efforts. Members of the Collaborative will also convene large-group discussions focused on implementation.

“The Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians is excited to join the UW and the other Resilience Collaborative partners on this effort,” Don Sampson said. “We understand the importance of working together to increase our impact and this project has the potential for improving tribal climate resilience, which is a priority for ATNI’s Climate Change program.”

Leaders and partners working in rural communities will study how rural values are reflected in climate adaptation priorities, the potential consequences of climate change for rural communities in Washington, Oregon and Idaho, and economic strategies for implementing climate action. Collaborative members will work with farmworkers in the specialty fruit and vegetable crop industry to identify opportunities to prepare for the changing climate.

“American Farmland Trust is looking forward to collaborating with this amazing group of partners to work to further resiliency and climate justice in rural communities in Oregon, Washington and Idaho,” Gabrielle Roesch-McNally, American Farmland Trust’s Women for the Land Director, said. “As an implementation partner, American Farmland Trust will utilize our peer-to-peer networking model to reach women, underserved audiences and other natural resource managers to better engage populations who have yet to be adequately included in this work and who are likely to experience very severe disruptions from climate change.”

In addition to working with specific rural and coastal tribal communities, the Collaborative is designed to accelerate climate adaptation in the Northwest, across the Regional Integrated Sciences and Assessments network and in state and federal climate resilience programs and policies. This will be accomplished through a variety of initiatives that transfer successful community-based innovations to similar communities; that influence the state and federal entities shaping the laws, policies and investment strategies that will determine future community resilience; and that invest in community capacity to help them reduce their vulnerability to a changing climate while pursuing their own community values.

The Resilience Collaborative is “breaking the mold of traditional climate adaptation efforts,” Snover said, “which, while important and necessary, will not be sufficient for preparing for the impacts of climate change. As the climate continues to change, impacting our economies, ecosystems and communities in ways that are varied and inequitable, this work has never been more urgent.”

The Northwest Climate Resilience Collaborative will consist of the following partners:

Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians: Mr. Don Sampson; Dr. Chas Jones

American Farmland Trust: Ms. Addie Candib; Dr. Gabrielle Roesch-McNally

Front and Centered: Ms. Aurora Martin; Dr. Esther Min

Headwaters Economics: Dr. Megan Lawson; Ms. Patricia Hernandez

Idaho State University: Dr. Katrina Running

Portland State University: Dr. Jennifer Allen; Dr. Liliana Caughman; Dr. Vivek Shandas

UW Climate Impacts Group: Dr. Amy Snover; Dr. Meade Krosby; Dr. Guillaume Mauger; Dr. Crystal Raymond; Dr. Jason Vogel

Washington Sea Grant: Dr. Russell Callender; Mr. Jackson Blalock; Dr. Melissa Poe

Washington State University: Mr. Chad Kruger; Dr. Sonia Hall; Dr. Georgine Yorgey; Dr. Bernadita Sallato

Western Washington University: Dr. Marco Hatch

 

Now Hiring: Climate Justice Research Program Integration Specialist

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The UW Climate Impacts Group is hiring a new, full-time Climate Justice Research Program Integration Specialist to help launch and sustain our climate justice-focused research collaborative. To skip straight to the full job description, click here.

The Program Integration Specialist will act as the primary point of contact between our partner organizations, which include community-facing partners, non-profits and academic researchers across Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana. The Integration Specialist will work closely with the Frontline Community Climate Resilience Scientist – a new position that is also accepting applications.

The Specialist will contribute to the success of all aspects of the CIG’s flagship climate justice research program. The main responsibilities of this position are project management and integration. This includes making connections across different projects and portfolios of work related to building tribal coastal resilience; building rural resilience and scaling resilience efforts across different communities and scales. This may include, among other activities, engaging with knowledge-to-action networks, organizing and executing “train the trainer” activities and assisting in curriculum development for a Climate Action Corps. The Specialist will also support communications, grant administration and reporting.

We hope to attract a candidate who is passionate about climate justice, climate change impacts and adaptation and co-producing actionable science. Additionally, we are seeking candidates with experience engaging frontline communities in environmental, health, climate or other decision-making processes, and with an understanding of the connections between environmental justice and racial, climate and health justice.

The expected salary range for this position is $65K to $75K, with potential for higher.

We will start reviewing applications for this position on September 15. To learn more and apply, please visit the UW Hires website.

 

Questions and answers about this position:

We will post answers to questions we receive about this position on this webpage to ensure transparency and equity in our hiring process. Please check back occasionally for more information.

I noticed that you are hiring for two climate justice-focused positions; the Program Specialist and the Frontline Community Climate Resilience Scientist. I was wondering if you might consider the same person for both positions, assuming that both applications are submitted before the earlier deadline of September 3.
Thank you for the interest in these positions. You are correct that they are quite different, so we encourage interested parties to apply to the one that they are best suited to and most interested in. That said, we will be evaluating each candidate pool independently so if you are truly interested in both positions you could apply for both of them (with each application being submitted before the deadline for that position). If you want us to know that you are applying to the other position, please note that in your cover letter.

I tried to submit my application through the UW career website, but I can’t find the option to attach my resume or cover letter. Can I submit them via email?

Thank you for reaching out to us. In the interest of equity, we’re only accepting applications that come to us through the UWHires website. If you’ve submitted a resume/CV and cover letter through that site, you should be good to go. If you’re having trouble with the site, please reach out to the UWHires Help Desk (uwhires@uw.edu; (206)543-2544).

I was wondering if you could shed any additional background or context for what this person would actually be doing?
To be fair to the other applicants, I can’t really provide more context than what is in the job description. I’d highlight though that the main responsibility of this position is to manage the various aspects of a new climate justice research program and to facilitate connections between different partners and projects within the program.

Are you accepting application from Canadians? (I do not have a work permit for the US).

Unfortunately, the University does not allow for candidates from other countries for this type of position (Research Scientists fall in the Professional Staff category at UW).

What is the expected duration of the position?
This position is not a temporary position. Our hope is to find a candidate who can flourish at the Climate Impacts Group for many years to come.

Is this position open for students on an F1 visa?
No, unfortunately we cannot hire a student on an F1 visa for this position.

Is it based in Seattle, and is there any potential for remote work?
The position is based in Seattle, but there is a possibility for remote work. Generally, we expect a new employee to spend a couple of years making connections and building relationships at the Climate Impacts Group in Seattle before pursuing a remote work arrangement. But because this position works regionally across Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana we have some flexibility.

What are the travel duties (if any) associated with working with community partners and frontline communities?
There will be travel associated with this position. We cannot specify exact travel requirements since the position will evolve over time and the COVID-19 pandemic has made answering such questions difficult. But expect to travel to communities throughout the Northwest several times per year.

When is your desired start date for this position?
We hope to bring the successful applicant onboard as soon as possible. We have a research program starting in the fall and need to onboard the successful applicant in time to help lead the research program in the near future.

Published August 18, 2021; updated August 25, 2021

Apply Today: Frontline Community Climate Resilience Scientist

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The UW Climate Impacts Group is seeking to grow our team with a new, full-time Frontline Community Climate Resilience Scientist (position open now!) and a full-time Program Integration Specialist (position posting coming soon!).

The Frontline Community Scientist will bring thought leadership and coordination to a new climate justice-focused research collaborative at the Climate Impacts Group. The Frontline Community Scientist will have a unique opportunity to advance the theory and practice of climate services provision to frontline communities while working collaboratively with Native American tribes, rural communities and communities of color.

This position will involve leading and supporting research projects in climate resilience and climate justice; participating in strategic planning; coordinating and communicating across leadership and our partner organizations; among other responsibilities. Our partner organizations include community-facing partners; non-profits, and academic researchers across Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana.

We are looking for a candidate who has experience working across a diverse range of communities (including Native American tribes, rural communities, and urban communities of color) on issues related to climate change and environmental justice. This position will also require effective networking among academic researchers with substantive specialties ranging from the physical and natural sciences to the social and policy sciences. The ability to understand and find connections across these diverse fields of knowledge is crucial.

The expected salary range for this position is $80K to $90K, with potential for higher.

We will start reviewing applications for this position on September 3. To learn more and apply, please visit the UW Hires website.

Questions and answers about this position:

We will post answers to questions we receive about this position on this webpage to ensure transparency and equity in our hiring process. Please check back occasionally for more information. 

I noticed that you are hiring for two climate justice-focused positions; the Frontline Community Scientist and the Climate Justice Research Program Integration Specialist. I was wondering if you might consider the same person for both positions, assuming that both applications are submitted before the earlier deadline of September 3.
Thank you for the interest in these positions. You are correct that they are quite different, so we encourage interested parties to apply to the one that they are best suited to and most interested in. That said, we will be evaluating each candidate pool independently so if you are truly interested in both positions you could apply for both of them (with each application being submitted before the deadline for that position). If you want us to know that you are applying to the other position, please note that in your cover letter.

I tried to submit my application through the UW career website, but I can’t find the option to attach my resume or cover letter. Can I submit them via email?
Thank you for reaching out to us. In the interest of equity, we’re only accepting applications that come to us through the UWHires website. If you’ve submitted a resume/CV and cover letter through that site, you should be good to go. If you’re having trouble with the site, please reach out to the UWHires Help Desk (uwhires@uw.edu; (206)543-2544).

Is the position soft money?
All positions at the Climate Impacts Group are “soft money” in the sense that no professional research positions at the UW have direct funding from the state like most UW faculty positions do. However, the Climate Impacts Group recently won a five-year grant to fund a large portion of the work we anticipate this position doing. We expect the successful candidate to *eventually* participate in raising funds for their own salary and/or support staff salary and/or to raise money to subsidize the participation of frontline communities in our work with and for them.

Are you accepting application from Canadians? (I do not have a work permit for the US).

Unfortunately, the University does not allow for candidates from other countries for this type of position (Research Scientists fall in the Professional Staff category at UW).

What is the expected duration of the position?
This position is not a temporary position. Our hope is to find a candidate who can flourish at the Climate Impacts Group for many years to come. Note the answer to the question about soft money above as well.

Is this position open for students on an F1 visa?
No, unfortunately we cannot hire a student on an F1 visa for this position.

Is it based in Seattle, and is there any potential for remote work?
The position is based in Seattle, but there is a possibility for remote work. Generally, we expect a new employee to spend a couple of years making connections and building relationships at the Climate Impacts Group in Seattle before pursuing a remote work arrangement. But because this position works regionally across Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana we have some flexibility.

What are the travel duties (if any) associated with working with community partners and frontline communities?
There will be travel associated with this position. We cannot specify exact travel requirements since the position will evolve over time and the COVID-19 pandemic has made answering such questions difficult. But expect to travel to communities throughout the Northwest several times per year.

When is your desired start date for this position?
We hope to bring the successful applicant onboard as soon as possible. We have a research program starting in the fall and need to onboard the successful applicant in time to help lead the research program in the near future.

Published August 3, 2021, updated August 23, 2021.