The Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics at Virginia Tech, and in particular an interdisciplinary research team led by Dr. Elinor Benami, is seeking a highly motivated Research Associate or Scientist to join us in the Summer or Fall 2026. The position is annually renewable pending availability of continued funding. This is a single search for one research faculty position that may be filled at either rank, depending on the qualifications of the finalist candidate.

• Research Associate conducts research under supervision with more limited independent authority, contributes to manuscripts and reports under guidance, and is generally not eligible to serve as principal investigator.

• Research Scientist conducts independent research under general supervision, contributes significantly to project conceptualization and management, is expected to lead manuscripts and contribute to proposal and grant development, may supervise project personnel and research assistants, and is eligible to serve as principal investigator.

Our team works at the intersection of agricultural economics, remote sensing, and insurance and finance, with projects spanning how the use of Earth observation can inform agricultural index insurance design, premium ratings, and quantifying the private and public values of conservation agricultural practice adoption.

We are affiliated with NASA Harvest and collaborate with a wide range of academic, government, and practitioner partners, including USDA, the Gates Foundation, Microsoft AI for Good, and multiple public, private, and nongovernmental organizations. The successful candidate will be responsible for supporting the research efforts of our team using a variety of tools and methods. These will include preparing geospatial and administrative data for analysis, applying theory-guided statistical approaches to uncover relationships in the data, generating visualizations and maps, preparing manuscripts for submission to peer-reviewed journals, and presenting findings to academic as well as practitioner audiences. The candidate will also have opportunities to engage directly with policy and industry partners and to contribute to ongoing grant development.

We are especially interested in candidates with a background in agricultural or applied economics/finance and familiarity with remote sensing data and methods, though we welcome applicants from related quantitative disciplines, including economics, earth system or environmental sciences, computational social science, and geography, provided they bring strong causal inference skills and engagement with applied policy questions. Experience with land markets, agricultural finance, or soil and water conservation policy is a plus.

The position is best suited to someone who is comfortable working across disciplinary boundaries, interested in both the scholarly and applied dimensions of the work, and eager to contribute to a collaborative and fast-moving research environment.

Location: Blacksburg, Virginia, with travel to partner institutions domestically or internationally occasionally expected. Some remote work is permissible by mutual agreement.

About NASA Harvest | NASA Harvest is NASA’s Global Food Security and Agriculture Program.
Our mission is to enable and advance adoption of satellite Earth observations by public and private organizations to benefit food security, sustainability, agriculture, and human and environmental resiliency worldwide. We accomplish this through a multidisciplinary and multisectoral Consortium of leading scientists and agricultural stakeholders, led by researchers at the University of Maryland and implemented through co-development with our partners across the globe.

About Virginia Tech | Virginia Tech is and has been pursuing a series of cluster hires to complement the strengths of existing faculty in pursuing interdisciplinary research the nexus of digital, biological, social, and physical sciences and engineering with application to agriculture, food, and natural resources. This vision aims to create a state and nation-wide network of interconnected faculty, partners, and resources for scientific discovery and developing and deploying new technologies. The goal is to increase overall efficiency, resiliency, sustainability, and economic value of food, agriculture production systems, and natural resources while expanding Virginia Tech’s global influence in this rapidly evolving domain.

Requirements for Research Associate Position

• Master's degree in agricultural economics, applied economics, or a related quantitative field, or a bachelor’s degree and significant relevant experience in the same fields
• Strong written and oral communication skills
• Demonstrated experience with data analysis in R, Python, or similar language using version control ( e.g., Git)
• Experience in evaluating the economic and policy implications of agricultural monitoring techniques, ideally using remotely sensed, Earth observation data

Requirements for Research Scientist Position

• PhD in agricultural economics, applied economics, or a related quantitative field with relevant research experience
• Strong written and oral communication skills
• Demonstrated experience with data analysis in R, Python, or similar language using version control ( e.g., Git)
• Experience in evaluating the economic and policy implications of agricultural monitoring techniques, ideally using remotely sensed, Earth observation data

Preferred Qualifications for Research Associate Position

• Experience with econometric methods applied to administrative or observational data
• Familiarity with geospatial analysis and remote sensing data, including cloud platforms such as Google Earth Engine
• Prior work in one or more of the team's areas: agricultural/index insurance or risk transfer, conservation agriculture, land markets, or rural finance

Preferred Qualifications for Research Scientist Position

• Experience submitting manuscripts to peer reviewed journals and established publications record
• Experience with managing sponsored research projects and/or personnel
• Experience with econometric methods applied to administrative or observational data
• Familiarity with geospatial analysis and remote sensing data, including cloud platforms such as Google Earth Engine
• Prior work in one or more of the team's areas: agricultural/index insurance or risk transfer, conservation agriculture, land markets, or rural finance