Research Assistant / Associate (Social and Historical Research on Earthquakes and Volcanoes)

Job Description

Mapping and analysing the human and historical geography of volcanism and seismicity in Southeast Asia

Integrating Volcano and Earthquake Science and Technology (InVEST) is an ambitious, interdisciplinary effort to provide a holistic understanding the linkages between earthquakes and volcanoes, and their cascading hazards and impacts. Our team, which is in charge of one component of this larger project, aims to investigate how the volcanism and seismicity of Southeast Asia has affected human geography. Our primary geographic focus is the Philippines and Indonesia. The project will deploy a team of specialists in archival research and ethnography with a variety of language skills, and network with specialists throughout the region.

Job Description

Successful candidates will assist the PI (A/P Gregory Clancey) in conducting research on or around the project’s central themes of the human geography of volcanism and seismicity in Southeast Asia, including the following:

• Compiling historical information on earthquakes and volcanoes.
• Creating a map or series of maps showing how impactful geologic events have influenced human communities in the region over the last few hundred years.
• Creating a database of how geological events and processes have led to changes in settlement, culture, architecture, and social organisation.
• Documenting social lessons that have been learned (or not learned) due to hazards in the region, and their incorporation into disaster planning and management.
• Documenting systems of vernacular aseismic architecture and their cultural persistence.
• Administrative duties such as managing the grant budget, communicating with collaborators, organising and facilitating events etc.

Qualifications

• B.A./B.S. or an M.A./ M.S. in history, STS, environmental studies, physical sciences or social sciences, along with a willingness to work across disciplines.
• Candidates with an interdisciplinary background across natural and social sciences are preferred.
• Experience in GIS and other mapping software is preferred.
• Excellent written and spoken communication skills.
• Strong organisational skill and interpersonal skills.
• Knowledge of Bahasa Indonesia is an asset.