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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif">Dear colleagues,</span></font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif"><br></span></font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif">The <a href="http://placeslab.org" style="color:rgb(5,99,193);text-decoration:underline" target="_blank">PLACES lab</a> at Boston
University (BU) is seeking a postdoctoral research scholar to lead and publish
large-scale, property-level analyses of land value, building value, and
hurricane damage risk across the United States, supported by NSF funding.<span></span></span></font></p>

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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif">The position contributes to the development of public datasets
and novel algorithms for U.S.-wide, property-level estimates of land value,
building value, and economic risk from hurricane damage. It supports efforts to
publish a <a href="https://places-conus.readthedocs.io" style="color:rgb(5,99,193);text-decoration:underline" target="_blank">nationwide parcel-level
land value dataset</a> and an <a href="https://github.com/chrnolte/openplaces" style="color:rgb(5,99,193);text-decoration:underline" target="_blank">open-source
framework for scalable property analyses</a> built on <a href="https://placeslab.org/places/" style="color:rgb(5,99,193);text-decoration:underline" target="_blank">a decade of related efforts</a>. <span></span></span></font></p>

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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif">The successful candidate will have leeway in shaping the
direction of the research to build a strong, competitive researcher profile. Options for
emphasis include: methodological (econometrics, machine learning, computer
vision) and applications (hazards, conservation), with publication venues in
applied economics, geography, conservation planning, and remote sensing. The
position is ideal for early career researchers interested in building a profile
around scalable property-level analyses, including fair valuation, damage
modeling, and/or hedonic valuation.<span></span></span></font></p>

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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif">The ideal candidate will have:</span></font></p><ul><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif"><span><span style="font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;font-stretch:normal;line-height:normal;font-size-adjust:none;font-kerning:auto;font-feature-settings:normal"></span></span>A PhD (or similar experience) in economics,
statistics, data science, geography, environmental science, computer science,
or a related field of applied statistics.</span></font></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif">Strong quantitative skills in one or more of the
following: scalable spatio-temporal statistics / econometrics, machine
learning, computer vision for extracting building attributes from aerial or
street-level imagery.</span></font></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif">An early publication record in peer-reviewed
journals.</span></font></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif">Enthusiasm about contributing to open science
frameworks (FAIR data, open code).</span></font></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif">A strong interest in applied environmental
policy questions in the United States.</span></font></li></ul><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif">Knowledge in the following domains will be an asset (can be
taught if needed):</span></font></p><ul><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif">Geospatial processing in Python (e.g., geopandas,
rasterio/xarray)</span></font></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif">High-performance computing (e.g., Sun Grid Engine
or similar cluster environments)</span></font></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif">Principles of property valuation and/or
hurricane risk estimation</span></font></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif">Git-based collaborative development with clean
APIs and documentation</span></font></li></ul><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif">Expected outputs:</span></font></p><ul><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif">Peer-reviewed journal articles (lead-authored
encouraged)</span></font></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif">Public data releases</span></font></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif">Open-source software modules</span></font></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif"><span><span style="font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;font-stretch:normal;line-height:normal;font-size-adjust:none;font-kerning:auto;font-feature-settings:normal"> </span></span>Policy-relevant outputs (optional)</span></font><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif"> </span></font></li></ul>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif">This is an 18-month position, supported by two ongoing NSF
projects:</span></font></p><ul><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif"><span><span style="font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;font-stretch:normal;line-height:normal;font-size-adjust:none;font-kerning:auto;font-feature-settings:normal"></span></span><a href="https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/show-award/?AWD_ID=2209190&HistoricalAwards=false" style="color:rgb(5,99,193);text-decoration:underline" target="_blank">Coastal
hazards, economic prosperity, and resilience</a> (NSF CoPe)</span></font></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif"><a href="https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/show-award/?AWD_ID=2149243" style="color:rgb(5,99,193);text-decoration:underline" target="_blank">High-resolution
prediction and uncertainty estimation of land value and conservation costs</a>
(NSF HEGS)<span></span></span></font></li></ul>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif">The position comes with a strong expectation of renewal,
contingent on the success of grants to which the candidate will have the
opportunity to contribute.<span></span></span></font></p>

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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif">The position starts as soon as possible. In-person
availability is preferred. Fully remote work is an option for exceptional candidates
with demonstrated productivity. BU offers a competitive salary ($75K) and
benefits package.<span></span></span></font></p>

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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif">Interested applicants should contact Associate Professor Christoph
Nolte (<a href="mailto:chrnolte@bu.edu" style="color:rgb(5,99,193);text-decoration:underline" target="_blank">chrnolte@bu.edu</a>) with their CV, a letter
of interest that includes a statement of fit with the position (1-2 pages), publications,
and contact information of 2-3 letter writers. Please include the words “NSF
postdoc” in your message header.<span></span></span></font></p>

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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif">Review of applications will begin on Jan 26, 2026, and occur
on a rolling basis until the position is filled. For updates on the status of
this search, visit: <a href="http://placeslab.org/postdoc" style="color:rgb(5,99,193);text-decoration:underline" target="_blank">placeslab.org/postdoc</a>.<span></span></span></font></p>

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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif"><font size="2">BU is an equal opportunity employer and all qualified
applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race,
color, religion, sex, national origin, disability status, protected veteran
status, or any other characteristic protected by law.</font></span></p>





</div><span class="gmail_signature_prefix">-- </span><br><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><span><span><b>Christoph Nolte</b><span style="color:rgb(204,204,204)"> he/him<br></span><span><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div>Associate Professor<br><div>Earth & Environment<br>Boston University</div><div><a href="mailto:chrnolte@bu.edu" target="_blank">chrnolte@bu.edu</a></div><div><a href="http://placeslab.org" target="_blank">placeslab.org</a><br></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></span></span></span></div></div></div>
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