Assistant Project Scientist

Acsp; San Diego (CA); On-site; USD 30,000 - 42,000; Part time

Job summary

The Design Lab at UC San Diego is seeking a part-time Assistant Project Scientist to lead research on the CARB project evaluating how infill development can reduce vehicle miles traveled (VMT) and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions statewide.

Sitting at the intersection of land-use planning, transportation policy, environmental justice, and data science, this role turns complex data into actionable, climate-smart growth strategies.

Responsibilities

• Lead research on CARB project evaluating infill development and its impact on VMT and GHG statewide.
• Perform quantitative and spatial analysis using R or Python on microdata, zoning, and transportation networks.
• Synthesize literature across urban economics, environmental science, and transit policy into policy briefs.
• Operationalize equity metrics to account for housing affordability, gentrification and displacement risks in infill planning.

Job description

The Design Lab (https://designlab.ucsd.edu/) at UC San Diego is hiring a part-time (25% effort) Assistant Project Scientist to lead research on the California Air Resources Board (CARB) project evaluating how infill development can reduce vehicle miles traveled (VMT) and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions statewide. Sitting at the intersection of land-use planning, transportation policy, environmental justice, and data science, this role turns complex data into actionable, climate-smart growth strategies for California state, regional, and local agencies.

This position will be conducting quantitative and spatial analysis using R or Python to model socioeconomic microdata, parcel-level zoning, and transportation networks. Day to day, that means working with datasets like American Community Survey (ACS) microdata, LEHD/LODES, CalEnviroScreen, ACE, and AFFH to build small-area VMT models, GHG accounting frameworks, and gravity-based accessibility metrics for employment and essential services.

Beyond the modeling side, this position will lead interdisciplinary literature reviews across urban economics, environmental science, public health, and transit policy, distilling findings into clear policy briefs, technical reports, and decision frameworks for state agency leaders. Environmental justice is central to everything we do here, so this position will also focus on operationalizing equity metrics to ensure our policy recommendations account for housing affordability, gentrification, and displacement risks in infill planning.