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Description: ASSESS Research Centre | Faculty of Agriculture | DALHOUSIE UNIVERSITY Research Centre Lead: Dr Christopher Hartt Research Coordinator/ Supervisor: Ashley MacDonald

Supervisor: Chanuka Swarnathilake

Posting Date: Mar 1st, 2021

Application Deadline: Mar 22nd, 2021

Position Length: 35 hours per week for 12 weeks, flexible between May – August 2021

Location: Virtual and/or on-campus pending approval Pay Rate: Two years of college or university training: $15.66 per hour + 4% vacation (in accordance with the University Pay Scale)

Job Description:

The research group is currently engaged in two projects. Successful candidates will provide support for these projects, assist in the development of new project proposals and grants, and help preparing materials for knowledge mobilization or publication.

The first project is focused on the successfulness of small-scale dairy farms in the Atlantic region (primarily New Brunswick). This project is using a systematic literature review and interviews to develop and deliver a survey to producers to identify success factors and how information influences decision-making.

The second project is determining the cost of production, competitiveness, and opportunities for success of the Atlantic Canadian Beef industry. This project will be using a systematic scoping review and secondary data to complete a meta-analysis and develop a Cost-Benefit model, integrating environmental and social factors with economic/financial data.

Task may include, but are not limited to:

• Screening of literature

• Reference information collection and formatting • Transcription of audio files • Article summaries and interpretations • Qualitative coding of files • Secondary data collection • Data entry • Financial or economic analysis • Creating presentations, infographics, videos, etc. for knowledge mobilization Necessary training on research methodologies, analysis, and academic writing will be provided.

Qualifications:

Dalhousie student (enrolled for 2021-2022) with minimum two years of academic background/experience. Preference for students in International food business, agricultural business/economics, environmental science, animal science.

Independently motivated and comfortable working with limited supervision.

Reliable access to internet and a computer when working virtually.

Strong communication, interpersonal, and organizational skills.

Proficient in academic writing with understanding of APA citation style.

Strength in editing, grammatical and proofreading would be an asset.

Understanding of introductory statistics (familiarity with Stata, SPSS, or SAS considered an asset).

Student outcomes:

Students will work with researchers, assisting in conducting a systematic literature reviews, collecting and operationalizing secondary data, and knowledge mobilization.

Students will develop valuable hands-on skills in research methods and receive training in advanced qualitative and mixed method research software.

Students may have the option to continue working with the research team and using the data collected during this position for the completion of their fourth-year honours thesis.

To apply for the above position, please send a cover letter, resume, and the names of two references to by March 22nd at 4 pm (AST) Ashley MacDonald, ASSESS Research Coordinator assess@dal.ca