Natural Resource and Environmental Economist

RTI International
Durham - United States
S: Competitive

RTI International has an opening for a natural resource and environmental economist within its Center for Applied Economics and Strategy with interest in research topics at the nexus of agriculture, energy, water, and resource management. The successful candidate will conduct economic and policy analysis on a wide range of topics and will carry strong data management, analysis, and communication skills. CAES staff draw on a range of quantitative and qualitative skill sets to produce high quality research for government agencies, foundations, and non-profit organizations. Our work requires implementing the best available theory and methods in assessing environmental and economic outcomes to report cogent and actionable results to our clients.

The successful candidate's work will have a primary focus on domestic policies and international efforts to assess resource allocation strategies and the environmental and economic consequences of air and water pollution, policy design, and technological innovation on different sectors of the economy (including energy, industrial, agriculture, forestry, transportation). S/he will have sufficient training and experience to identify best technical approaches in partnership with senior economists and project teams, execute quantitative analyses, and clearly articulate results to audiences of varying levels of sophistication. CAES staff seek a candidate with a clear interest in natural resource and environmental economics and a strong technical skill set versatile to the breadth of topic areas in which we work.


Responsibilities: The successful candidate will be expected to contribute to the following tasks with other RTI team members

Design, execute, and communicate research on the following topics:
Agriculture and forestry sector modeling and policy analysis,
Energy and environmental policies,
Macroeconomic modeling of policies
Climate change mitigation and adaptation,
Energy system modeling,
Transportation systems and vehicle technology modeling and policy,
Integrated water resources management or hydro-economic analysis,
Spatial analytics using remote sensed products for economic and policy assessment.
Conduct data management and quantitative economic analysis using statistical and mathematical programming packages (e.g. GAMS, R, Stata)
Prepare data visuals and summary tables using the aforementioned software packages, Tableau, or other methods
Provide data management and modeling assistance to support the development and application of marginal abatement cost models, levelized cost analysis, and other techno-economic evaluations.
Collaborate effectively with project team members
Manage workflow in a timely, realistic, and cost-effective manner to meet client expectations
Contribute to grant, cooperative agreement, and contract proposals
Present research methods and findings via technical reports, journal articles, and presentations

Qualifications: Qualified applicants should have the following:

Master's degree in a relevant field with relevant work experience or a Bachelor's degree and three years of relevant work experience
Demonstrated programming, data management, and analysis skills, including experience with GAMS, R, Stata, or related programs.
Demonstrated experience in conducting economic analysis of environmental policy
Strong interest in several of the topic areas listed above
If selected to interview for the position, writing samples will be required, preferably with a focus related to one of the topic areas above.

Preferred
Demonstrated experience with geospatial analysis.
Demonstrated experience with programing in GAMS.
Experience working on environmental, natural resource, or agricultural economics topics in the developing world.
Interests in applied economic model development, technological change, energy and environmental policy.
Interests in applied economic model development, technological change, energy and environmental policy are encouraged to apply.
Legally authorized to work in the United States and should not require now, or in the future, sponsorship for employment visa status.

Job summary