Assistant Project Scientist

1000scholars; San Diego (CA); On-site; USD 34,000 - 55,000; Part time

Job summary

The Design Lab is seeking an Assistant Project Scientist for a part-time role (25% effort) to lead CARB-funded research evaluating infill development impacts on vehicle miles traveled and statewide greenhouse gas emissions.

The position sits at the crossroads of land-use planning, transportation policy, environmental justice, and data science to translate complex data into climate-smart growth strategies for California agencies.

Job description

The Design Lab 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.