May 28, 2020 We are recruiting a postdoctoral researcher for an energy poverty NSF RAPID project that is a collaboration between Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Maryland.
PI: Dr. Lucy Qiu (University of Maryland), co-PI: Dr. Destenie Nock (Carnegie Mellon University)
Description: As COVID-19 continues its spread, states are issuing “stay-at-home” orders and banning social gatherings. Many businesses have instituted work from home, or layoff policies. 10 million people filed jobless claims in just two weeks in late March. There is a large uncertainty surrounding how these exogenous changes will impact electricity demand patterns across different sectors, and the energy burden of the poor. With energy costs being the highest monthly expense after food for most low-income households, the financial strain, the new pattern of working from home, and attending online classes, combined with the psychological uncertainty of job security during an ongoing pandemic, put energy-poor households at a greater risk. A household’s ability to meet their energy demand will have a large impact on health, work productivity, and educational development. The energy inequality can be exacerbated by the concern that the coronavirus is affecting the lower-income communities and ethnic minorities harder. This project examines the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the patterns of electricity demand and the associated distributional impact across different socio-economic groups.
Job Recruitment: The project is looking to recruit one postdoctoral researcher. The postdoctoral researcher will work at the Center for Global Sustainability in the School of Public Policy of the University of Maryland College Park (UMD). The postdoctoral researcher will be involved in collecting information on coronavirus management events; analyzing the change in electricity demand of residential consumers; working with survey participants and analyzing the change in electricity demand of nonresidential consumers. We desired candidates who have any of the following skills: econometrics and machine learning, big data, interested in energy economics, and a reliable, motivated team player. The postdoctoral researcher must hold a PhD by the time of employment.
Time period and Contact Information: This is a one-year project. The start date is August 2020. Interested candidates can contact Dr. Lucy Qiu at yqiu16@umd.edu