Full Time Postdoctoral Research Fellowship(s) in Health and Community Design Research
Active Transport lab -- University of British Columbia (UBC)
The Active Transportation Lab (ATL) at the University of British Columbia, directed by Dr. Lawrence Frank, invites applications from accomplished researchers in the fields of environmental health, epidemiology, health promotion, urban planning, geography, engineering, and others. The Lab’s mission is: assessing and conveying how community design, including the location and form of transportation investments and land development actions, impacts travel, time use, and activity patterns; air quality; climate change; energy consumption; and public health. The lab is positioned between the Schools of Environmental Health and Community and Regional Planning at UBC.
Postdoctoral fellow(s) will be encouraged to traverse health and environmental impacts of community design with a direct focus on comparative work across socio-demographic sub-groups. This is an excellent opportunity for a candidate with strong quantitative skills to play a leadership role in cutting-edge research that has societal implications for health, environmental and economic sustainability, and overall quality of life. The Vancouver region is a wonderful setting for this work with several very progressive and supportive organizational partners at the municipal, regional, and provincial level along with a growing transit system. Canada is making several advances in promoting healthy communities that offer unique research opportunities.
Postdoctoral Fellow(s) will participate in recently funded longitudinal studies and conduct original research and publishing drawing upon several recently completed large scale observation studies (4 NIH funded Neighborhood Quality of Life Studies see www.nqls.org – Sallis, Saelens, Frank, King and others); the King County (Seattle) Healthscape Study; and the NEWPATH Study which integrates travel diary, dietary, and objectively measured physical activity and built environment data including pedestrian infrastructure. Data include objectively measured physical activity, sedentary time, and features of the built environment in GIS at the parcel level, transit and roadway accessibility, and most have in field collected micro scale features of the pedestrian environment. We have also audited parks and food establishments and collected dietary data.
Applicants should have a sound theoretical and practical understanding of the linkages between the built environment and travel behavior, including relationships with secondary outcomes such as physical activity, obesity, air pollution, and access to food. Strong research design skills are desired. Applicants are requested to provide a cover letter detailing their research interests and expertise. The application should also include a current CV, representative publications, and contact information for three references. Please submit these documents as pdf files to andrea.procyk@ubc.ca by May 31, 2011.