The ASPIRE program seeks to expand the places and people involved in the geosciences, especially in partnership with communities that have been under-resourced and marginalized. This builds on work we did beginning in 2016 that supported mobile working groups and boundary spanning geoscientists across the country. The ASPIRE leadership program collaborates with community members to help geoscientists learn how to do this work ethically and equitably. Our team works across the country on culture change for the geosciences that we see as urgently needed to meet the environmental challenges of our day.

Program Manager

The Active Societal Participation In Research and Education (ASPIRE) Program invites applications for a Program Manager to support and advance engagement in place-based, community-based geoscience research focused in under-resourced and minority communities that have often been left out of environmental research and solutions. ASPIRE seeks to expand the places and people involved in meeting challenging environmental and climate change issues through a leadership institute and learning ecosystem that engages early career scientists (postdocs to assistant professors), administrative “changemakers” (department chairs, deans, directors), and local community members. ASPIRE is led by the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (UMCES) with key collaborators at the University of Washington, Western Washington University, and communities in Puerto Rico, Washington, Alaska, and Maryland.

The ASPIRE learning ecosystem includes a range of interventions: a Virtual Discussion Series (VDS) broadly open to participation, small Immersive Institutes hosted and delivered by community members, and an Innovation Incubator focused on administratively-driven policy change in higher education. Annual convenings are offered for networking and exchange of learning, and a Community of Practice provides opportunities for participant-led support and ongoing skill development. Early career participants who successfully navigate the Immersive Institute can be considered for seed funding to jumpstart Equitable Exchange Working Groups (EEWGs) that collaborate with community members on challenging environmental issues.

Position Overview

The Program Manager will play a key role in knitting these interventions together, supporting community members into programmatic leadership roles, and coordinating communications, activities and resources across the learning ecosystem. The person in this position will work with the various types of participants, host communities, academic institutions, NGOs, and steering committee, advisory board, as well as social science research and evaluation teams.

The Program Manager will provide administrative and project management leadership for ASPIRE and will report to Dr. Lora Harris at UMCES.

For more details about this job opportunity, please visit: https://umces.peopleadmin.com/postings/1914