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)

Positions that are eligible for hybrid or mobile/remote work mode are at the discretion of the hiring department. Work agreements are reviewed annually at a minimum and are subject to change at any time, and for any reason, throughout the course of employment. Learn more about the work modes. This is a hybrid position based in Ann Arbor, Michigan with residence within commuting distance of Ann Arbor, Michigan as of the start date.

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 Steve Berman Family, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Interdisciplinary Research in Earth Science (IDS) and Earth Action Wildland Fires programs, and other sources.

For more information, visit 

https://sites.google.com/umich.edu/wffi

The University of Michigan is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We are committed to providing an environment of mutual respect where equal employment opportunities are available to all applicants, including protected veterans and individuals with disabilities.