University of Michigan SEAS Postdoctoral Research Associate: Historical Reference

University of Michigan SEAS Postdoctoral Research Associate: Historical Reference

The University of Michigan’s School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS) recruited a postdoctoral research associate to work with Dr. Nina Brooks. The appointment combined environmental and climate research with development, health economics, and policy. The official U-M Careers job record (opening ID 272587) gives a posting period from January 7 through February 2, 2026. The live detail URL now returns HTTP 404, while the University’s indexed job record preserves the posting details. The recruitment period has ended, and this page is an archive of that completed vacancy rather than an open application opportunity.

A check of the official U-M Careers listings found other SEAS positions but no reposting of opening 272587 or an announced successor for this specific research associate role. U-M advertised one vacancy rather than a recurring program with a published annual round. Other SEAS postdoctoral vacancies are separate recruitments with their own terms, even when their subject matter overlaps. Readers should not treat this archived salary, eligibility profile, or application checklist as current instructions for another job.

At a glance

Research focus and role

The position was designed for an applied researcher working where environment, development, health economics, and policy meet. The postdoctoral associate would pursue related research interests while contributing to Dr. Brooks’s projects. The posting described research that brings survey, field-based, and administrative information together with high-resolution climate and air-pollution datasets. Informal brick manufacturing and other informal industries were a particular area of interest.

That combination points to empirical work that connects environmental exposures with human and economic outcomes. The role was not described as a stand-alone data engineering appointment: the responsibilities included econometric analysis intended to estimate causal effects of climate and environmental exposures, support for randomized controlled experiments, writing research manuscripts, and helping share findings. A successful researcher would need to make careful choices about data integration and interpretation, explain the assumptions behind an empirical strategy, and communicate results to collaborators across disciplines.

The environmental data component was substantial. U-M specifically mentioned remotely sensed temperature and air pollution, as well as large environmental and remotely sensed datasets in the qualifications. Integrating these measures with survey or administrative data can require attention to how exposure is assigned to people, places, and time periods. The posting’s emphasis on causal methods means that the work would need to address more than correlations: the analysis was intended to support defensible estimates of how exposure affects outcomes.

The research context included informal brick manufacturing and related informal industries. These settings can raise questions about air quality, climate conditions, working environments, health, and economic activity. The listing also noted possible participation in field research in South Asia, depending on the associate’s interests. Field participation was presented as an opportunity, not as a universal prerequisite. Training and professional development at the University of Michigan were also part of the described role.

Appointment and compensation

U-M listed a salary of $75,000 with the same lower and upper figure in the job detail. The posting described the appointment as full-time, one year, and term limited, with the possibility of renewal. It named Ann Arbor as the work location and classified the arrangement as hybrid. The university’s standard explanation says that hybrid arrangements are set by the hiring department and governed by work agreements, which may change; candidates would have needed to confirm practical expectations with the department.

The official page described the University of Michigan benefits package, including paid time off, a retirement plan with two-for-one matching contributions and immediate vesting, health-insurance options, life insurance, long-term disability coverage, and flexible spending accounts for healthcare and dependent care. These were terms described for the closed recruitment. They should not be assumed for a different SEAS or U-M appointment without checking that position’s own listing.

Eligibility and qualifications

The degree requirement was a PhD in Economics, Public Policy, Data Science, or a related quantitative social science discipline. The degree could be completed before appointment or within four months of the start date. This allowed candidates nearing completion to apply, provided they could meet the stated completion condition. The university also required candidates to be legally authorized to work in the United States and stated that visa sponsorship was unavailable.

Applicants were expected to demonstrate expertise in causal inference and other data-science methods, with machine learning given as an example. The posting further required experience with large environmental and remotely sensed datasets, strong proficiency in R, familiarity with version-control tools such as GitHub, and familiarity with high-performance computing. Those were listed qualifications, rather than optional suggestions. The role’s method and data requirements fit a quantitative researcher able to work reproducibly with sizable datasets and contribute to empirical research.

The subject-matter fit was interdisciplinary. Experience relevant to climate or air pollution, environmental health, development, policy, or informal industries could help an applicant explain how their work connected to the projects. However, the official description did not make previous research on brick kilns or prior South Asia fieldwork an explicit requirement. The central fit was the ability to contribute to the research agenda while bringing related interests, together with the required quantitative training and technical skills.

Application materials required for the closed round

The official instructions required a cover letter attached as the first page of the CV. The letter was to explain the applicant’s specific interest in the position and outline skills and experience directly related to it. The application also had to include a writing sample and contact information for at least three references. These are the materials stated in the archived posting; the page did not identify reference letters as a separate upload requirement.

For that recruitment, an applicant’s cover letter would have needed to connect their own research interests to the work at SEAS and show how their background addressed the posted responsibilities. A clear account of causal research, environmental or remotely sensed data, and quantitative analysis would have made the connection easier to assess. Applicants could use the letter to explain what they would bring to collaborative projects and how their interests related to environment, development, and health economics or policy.

The CV and writing sample served different purposes. The CV could document degrees, research appointments, publications or working papers, methods, software, and relevant data experience. The sample could show how the candidate framed a research question, defended an empirical approach, analyzed evidence, and communicated conclusions. The listing did not prescribe a particular sample length or format, so candidates would have followed any additional instructions in the application portal while the position remained open.

Reference contact information needed to cover at least three people who could speak to the applicant’s research and professional work. Because the listed requirement was contact information, candidates should not infer from the archived page that they needed to upload letters at the initial application stage. Any additional request from the portal or hiring team would have superseded that summary, but no such additional requirement is recorded in the official posting text available here.

Application timeline and present status

The U-M job detail records a posting period from January 7, 2026, through February 2, 2026 and says that application review would begin January 30, 2026. The end date in the official job record is the deadline retained in this page’s metadata. The February 2 closing date is the final date shown in U-M’s indexed job detail; the January 30 review date did not extend the application window.

The recruitment has ended. The official U-M job detail records the closed posting and its former application instructions; it does not make the application portal active. U-M Careers currently shows no successor posting for this same associate position. A later role with similar subject matter, including another SEAS postdoctoral vacancy, would be a separate recruitment with its own terms and application process.

If this type of work remains relevant to your plans, monitor University of Michigan Careers and SEAS announcements for a separately published opening. A later position may have a different supervisor, research scope, degree requirement, work arrangement, salary, deadline, and set of required materials. Apply only through an active official listing and follow the instructions on that listing. This archive preserves the completed role’s verified terms so readers can understand what that particular appointment involved; it does not suggest that applications are being accepted now.

Understanding the work in practical terms

The job’s responsibilities suggest a progression from assembling suitable data to interpreting and communicating research results. Integrating survey and administrative records with environmental measurements involves documenting sources, checking geographic and temporal alignment, and considering how exposure estimates represent the conditions relevant to each observation. Large datasets and high-performance computing familiarity were included because such work can involve more than a desktop-scale analysis.

The econometric component would require a clear research design and careful interpretation. Estimating causal effects means identifying the assumptions that support a conclusion, checking whether the data fit those assumptions, and explaining what uncertainty remains. The separate responsibility to assist with randomized controlled experiments indicates that the associate could contribute to both the planning and evaluation of experimental work. The listing did not specify a single model or software package beyond its R proficiency requirement, so no one empirical technique should be read as the only acceptable approach.

Writing was also central to the appointment. The associate was expected to lead manuscript preparation and contribute to research dissemination, while working with interdisciplinary and international collaborators. That combination calls for the ability to keep analysis decisions transparent, make findings understandable beyond one specialty, and coordinate a research contribution as part of a team. Applicants in the closed cycle would have needed to demonstrate this through their prior work and application documents, rather than relying on broad claims of interest alone.

The university profile for Dr. Brooks describes her research on climate change, air pollution, health, and well-being in the Global South, using approaches from economics, epidemiology, demography, data science, and geography. This profile helps explain the interdisciplinary character of the advertised position, but it is not a current vacancy notice. The archived listing remains the source for the closed job’s salary, qualifications, application materials, and dates.