September 23, 2009

San Francisco

The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) is now accepting applications for a two-year, full-time Food and Biomass Science Fellow. The Fellow will work with a diverse team of NRDC advocates and scientists to help develop metrics of environmental performance that can be used in efforts to promote sustainable production systems for food and biofuels feedstocks.

About NRDC

The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) is a non-profit national environmental advocacy organization with more than 1.2 million members and online activists. We have offices in New York, Washington, D.C., Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Beijing. Our staff of over 300 includes attorneys, scientists, policy analysts and educators working to protect the environment and public health through advocacy and education.

Position Description

Both the emergence of biofuels as a significant transportation fuel and a growing interest in sustainable agriculture create exciting opportunities to promote sustainable food and biomass production. The Food and Biomass Science Fellow will join a cross-program effort at NRDC to advocate for sustainable policies, metrics, and practices across an array of policy and standard setting processes, seeking to protect our climate, land and water resources. The Fellow will collaborate with experts from NRDC's Energy & Climate, Health, Land and Water Programs. Outside NRDC, the Fellow with work with key stakeholders including those representing non-profit public interest organizations, academic institutions, businesses, and will represent NRDC in regulatory and legislative processes. Key areas of responsibility include:

• Provide scientific and technical support to NRDC's Energy & Climate, Health, Land and Water Programs.
• Work with NRDC staff, outside partners, and the academic community to research, assemble, and synthesize data and information that articulate the environmental metrics and ways to measure actual performance of agriculture and biomass production.
• Engage the larger scientific community and collaborate with other science fellows in NRDC's Science Center.

Qualifications

The ideal candidate will have the personal and professional skills to advance NRDC's objectives, including:

• A doctorate level degree in a related discipline such as soil science, agroecology, agronomy, silviculture, water quality, environmental chemistry, or agricultural economics.
• Expertise at the interface of agricultural production and environmental stewardship, ideally including water consumption and water quality, soil conservation, nitrogen cycling, and soil carbon sequestration;
• Excellent written and oral communication skills, especially communicating technical and analytical information in a clear and persuasive manner;
• Strong technical research, analytical and quantitative skills particularly as it relates to the development of standards and performance-based metrics;
• Familiarity with related public policy and standards development processes is desirable.
• No more than 5 year experience.

This position represents a challenging, entrepreneurial, and exciting opportunity for the right person. NRDC offers competitive salaries (based on a nonprofit scale and commensurate with experience), excellent benefits, and a dynamic work environment, and we are committed to workplace diversity. Applicants should submit a cover letter, resume and writing sample to: Leslie Edmond (ledmond@nrdc.org).