PREP0002431 Green Gentrification Senior Researcher

PREP Research Associate

Opportunity No.: PREP0002431

This position is part of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Professional Research Experience (PREP) program. NIST recognizes that its research staff may wish to collaborate with researchers at academic institutions on specific projects of mutual interest, and thus requires that such institutions must be the recipient of a PREP award. The PREP program requires staff from a wide range of backgrounds to work on scientific research in many areas. Employees in this position will perform technical work that underpins the scientific research of the collaboration.

APPLY ONLINE HERE

Green Gentrification Senior Researcher

The PREP Researcher will focus time on efforts that support understanding green gentrification relevant to sustainable building and infrastructure development (Applied Economics Office and Community Resilience Program at NIST, Dr. Jennifer Helgeson).

It is expected that the PREP Researcher will engage in all steps of the research process, including but not limited to literature review, data collection, data analysis, preparation of reports and archival journal articles, as well as reporting and communication with stakeholders.  

The objective of this role is to support community resilience planning through the development of methods and tools that evaluate the economic impacts of disruptive events and persistent stressors while accounting for stakeholder perceptions and associated decisions related to future event uncertainty and co-benefit (co-cost) valuation. 

There is a shocking lack of understanding of green gentrification as a mechanism as a co-cost (negative externality of sustainable development efforts) which requires attention, through quantitative and qualitative methods. 

Background and Initial Case Study Context: Climate change impacts the micro-climate of urban hubs across the United States.  Washington, D.C., is one such location, with impacts exacerbated by the high levels of vulnerability across neighborhoods that have been historically underserved. In the past few years, D.C. has seen record-breaking extreme weather, and impacted specifically by higher tides caused by rising sea levels, heavy rains and flooding, and warmer average temperatures because of the urban heat island effect. To mitigate and adapt to these climate risks, the D.C. government has supported several programs and projects that encourage the introduction of greenspace, solar roofs, green stormwater infrastructure (GSI), and other green infrastructure to D.C. However, these environmental amenities may be responsible for green gentrification. Green gentrification refers to a type of increased social inequity created by local green amenity installations or improvements. For example, because there are several benefits associated with green amenities, local property values, and rents can increase substantially, making it difficult for incumbent residents to afford to keep living in their communities.

This proposed analysis will measure the extent to which green infrastructure installations in D.C., many funded under The Sustainable DC Act, contribute to local green gentrification during the period 2013-2019. The analysis will use public data from 2013-2019 that identifies both the prevalence of green infrastructure and neighborhood characteristics overtime for block groups (BGs) located in D.C.  D.C. was the most gentrified city in the nation from 2000-2013, and today still falls within the most gentrified cities, experiencing gentrification in 16% of neighborhoods with lower property values and lower-income residents in the last five years (Richardson et al. 2020). Conclusions are likely to provide evidence that green infrastructure has contributed to gentrification in the district in the last decade. Additional data analysis and case studies are viable based on PREP researcher interest and approval by NIST researchers. Quasi-experimental statistical methods are planned to be used to evaluate the causal impact of sustainable development on local green gentrification in the U.S., being among the first to do so in the case study of Washington, D.C. Additional methods, including qualitative coding and interviews are expected.

Key responsibilities will include but are not limited to:

• Collaborate on data curation and analysis for a green gentrification analysis of Washington, D.C., and at least one other case study.
• Develop a literature review of green gentrification papers, both peer-reviewed and grey literature.
• Lead effort to obtain data and perform analysis to improve the methodology for measuring potential green gentrification impacts.
• Perform a case study analysis using Washington, D.C. data, as described.
• Create a corpus of papers that discuss frameworks and associated green gentrification.
• Compare and contrast the different frameworks within the review document where they are compatible and where there need to be improvements to create one unified framework.

Desired Qualifications:

• A graduate degree in Economics, Social Science, Policy, Environmental Science, Law, or a related field.
• At least 5 years of relevant research experience.
• Background in econometrics or statistics and at least two of the following areas:
  • Applied microeconomics
  • Climate change
  • Decision-science or behavioral-science
  • Environmental Economics
  • Environmental Law
  • Environmental Science
  • Non-market valuation
  • Policy
  • Regional economics
  • Risk and uncertainty 
  • Social Science
• Strong oral and written communication skills.
• This position is open to participants from Bowie State University, Coppin State University, Morgan State University, North Carolina A&T University, Tuskegee University, and the University of Maryland Eastern Shore

Other Details:

• Part-time: the participant is expected to work 6 hours per week.
• Location: Hybrid - the participant will work at the NIST Gaithersburg Campus and remotely.
• Duration: this is a six-month position. Extensions are sometimes granted depending on the availability of funds.
• For questions related to the research project or the nature of the work in this position, please contact Dr. Jennifer Helgeson (jennifer.helgeson@nist.gov). For questions related to the online application or NIST PREP more generally, please contact Dr. John Brandau (john.brandau@morgan.edu).

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Authority: 15 U.S.C. § 278g-1(e)(1) and (e)(3) and 15 U.S.C. § 272(b) and (c)

Purpose: The National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) hosts the Professional Research Experience Program (PREP) which is designed to provide valuable laboratory experience and financial assistance to undergraduates, post-bachelor’s degree holders, graduate students, master’s degree holders, postdocs, and faculty.

PREP is a 5-year cooperative agreement between NIST laboratories and participating PREP Universities to establish a collaborative research relationship between NIST and U.S. institutions of higher education in the following disciplines including (but may not be limited to) biochemistry, biological sciences, chemistry, computer science, engineering, electronics, materials science, mathematics, nanoscale science, neutron science, physical science, physics, and statistics. This collection of information is needed to facilitate administrative functions of the PREP Program.

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