A cover letter is required describing your relevant experience and scholarly interests and should be attached as the first page of your file. Please include your curriculum vitae, two to three relevant publications and three professional references.
The University of Michigan's School of Public Health invites applications for a Postdoctoral Research Fellowship to investigate complex natural hazards and health. The focal natural hazards are co-occurring and synergistically interacting wildfires, wildfire smoke, and heat waves. The postdoctoral fellow will assist with a research project entailing the collection and analysis of qualitative and quantitative data on these exposures and health outcomes, including but not limited to birth outcomes and other morbidity and mortality outcomes, culminating in scholarly research publications, paper presentations, and practical policy recommendations.
The postdoctoral fellow will report to and work under the mentorship of Dr. Marie O'Neill. The fellow will also collaborate with a team of University of Michigan postdoctoral fellows, PhD students, and faculty members including Paige Fischer (University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability) and Dr. Gretchen Keppel-Aleks (Department of Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering), as well as colleagues based in the western United States, primarily Oregon.
This position has funding for two years, and the successful candidate will begin with a one-year, full-time, term-limited appointment with renewal for a second year, depending on performance and funding. This is a hybrid position based in Ann Arbor, Michigan with residence within commuting distance of Ann Arbor, Michigan as of the start date.
The start date is flexible, with a preference for fall 2026.
Identify health outcomes of interest for public health response and interventions
Identify how compound hazard exposure data developed by our team and others can be linked to health data and appropriate exposure periods and lags
Conduct literature reviews to identify research gaps and appropriate methods
Develop hypotheses and manuscript proposals in collaboration with researchers and practitioners
Analyze data with qualitative and/or quantitative methods
Write and submit one manuscript to a scholarly journal per postdoc year
Make one paper presentation at a professional meeting per postdoc year
Interact with faculty, PhD students, other postdoctoral fellows, and practitioners to design and interpret the research
PhD (earned by start date) in epidemiology, environmental health, human geography, public health, or another related field
Formal training in environmental health sciences and epidemiologic methods
Familiarity with natural hazards and public health risks associated with wildfires, wildfire smoke, and heat
Strong publication record (relative to timing of degree)
School of Public Health (SPH)
The University of Michigan School of Public Health (https://sph.umich.edu/) is pursuing a healthier world with compassion, innovation and inclusion to create meaningful, lasting impact. We accomplish this by generating and sharing knowledge, contributing to policy, and engaging stakeholders. The University of Michigan is a top-ranked public university with excellence in research and teaching. Ann Arbor, home to the University of Michigan, is a town known for arts, culture, parks, and restaurants.
The Western Forest and Fire Initiative (WFFI) at the University of Michigan
The successful candidate will work as part of the WFFI, an interdisciplinary working group of faculty, students, and postdocs studying human and ecological adaptation to wildfire risk using an integrated social-environmental system framework. The WFFI aims to serve as a research hub and a bridging organization, working with practitioners and other researchers in the US West to identify and investigate research questions of scholarly and practical value. WFFI research projects are supported with funds from the Kathy and
