Job Description

About Western

With an international reputation for success, Western ranks as one of Canada's top research-intensive universities. Our research excellence expands knowledge and drives discovery with real-world application. Western also provides an exceptional employment experience, offering competitive salaries, a wide range of employment opportunities and one of Canada's most beautiful campuses.

About Us

Dr. Evan Bowness (Canada Research Chair in Sustainability and Equity) directs the Towards Equitable Sustainability Transitions (TEST) Lab, an interdisciplinary team advancing community-directed climate adaptation research. We work in close collaboration with Indigenous and land-based communities, guided by principles of community leadership, reciprocity, and relational accountability. Our goal is to develop climate adaptation planning approaches that center community priorities while challenging dominant technocratic and extractive research models.

Responsibilities

The Research Assistant will contribute to research design, coordination, and implementation for a multi-partner project focused on co-developing relational, community-led climate adaptation tools. This includes supporting the development of a conceptual framing paper, contributing to grant applications, and exploring how different types of knowledge can inform climate planning frameworks

This position will play a key role in a developing stream of work focused on integrating diverse types of knowledge—including community-based, scientific, and technological—into tools and processes for climate adaptation planning. The Research Assistant will contribute to grant proposals, scholarly publications, prototype development, and lab methodology, while working closely with a multi-partner team of researchers and community collaborators.

Responsibilities

The Research Assistant will work closely with Dr. Evan Bowness and the TEST Lab team to support a multi-partner initiative focused on co-developing relational, community-led climate adaptation tools.

Research and Writing

• Conduct interdisciplinary background research and literature reviews (e.g., transdisciplinarity, climate adaptation, research ethics, emerging technologies).
• Contribute to and edit multiple grant proposals.
• Co-write academic articles for submission to peer-reviewed journals.

Adaptation Planning Tool Development

• Support the design, testing, and refinement of a prototype climate adaptation planning tool.
• Develop content frameworks informed by both community priorities and scientific expertise, including interviews with community partners and environmental scientists.
• Organize and integrate hydrological and environmental data into usable formats, including domain ontologies and other “bridging” tools for cross-disciplinary understanding.
• Assist with coding, formatting, and testing components of the tool (e.g., JSON, Markdown, and mobile/desktop testing).
• Document development processes for use in lab training and knowledge sharing.
• Support development of tools that align with Indigenous data sovereignty principles (e.g., OCAP, CARE).

Methodology and Knowledge Management

• Co-develop a lab-wide procedure for literature tracking and organization, and train lab members in its use.
• Build and maintain a custom GPT trained on lab documents, and provide training for research synthesis and planning.
• Contribute to protocols for collaborative publishing and knowledge mobilization.

Collaboration and Capacity Building

• Work closely with a multi-institutional, cross-cultural research team, including academic and community partners.
• Provide training to lab members and collaborators on tools and processes developed during the project.

Qualifications Education:

MA in relevant field (e.g., Environmental Studies, Computational Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences). Experience with AI and Data Sovereignty is a strong asset.

Why Western?

Western offers a broad and exciting variety of part-time and temporary employment opportunities with ample room for job exploration and growth. Within our beautiful campus, you are part of a progressive work environment that promotes work/life balance including access to our state-of-the-art recreation centre. Apply for an opportunity to be part of the Western community and contribute to its success!

Background Checks

While transcripts are not required for the interview, they are mandatory prior to any offer of employment.

Applying at Western

To ensure that your application is given full consideration, please complete all relevant sections of the application. In addition, you can choose to supplement your application with a cover letter and current resume.


Consideration of applicants will include an assessment of previous performance, experience, and qualifications. Applicants should have oral communication skills in English.

Western Values Diversity

The University invites applications from all qualified individuals. Western is committed to employment equity and diversity in the workplace and welcomes applications from women, members of racialized groups/visible minorities, Indigenous persons, persons with disabilities, persons of any sexual orientation, and persons of any gender identity or gender expression.


Accommodations are available for applicants with disabilities throughout the recruitment process. If you require accommodations for interviews or other meetings, please contact Human Resources or phone 519-661-2194.

Please Note:

We thank all applicants for their interest; however, only those chosen for an interview will be contacted.

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