Careers

Description:

Position Title: Research Assistant (RA)
Quarter(s): Winter Quarter 2026
Supervising Faculty: Rachel Sklar
Start Date:  01/16/26
End Date: 06/15/26

Application Deadline: 02/06/26

Estimated Weekly Hours: This position is funded at up to 50% FTE during the academic year, with the possibility of summer hourly support, depending on project needs and available funding.

Position Overview: The Graduate Student Research Assistant will support a multi-state, stakeholder-engaged research project focused on occupational injury and illness in the agriculture, forestry, and fishing sectors across the Pacific Northwest (Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, Washington). The project integrates analysis of publicly available occupational injury surveillance datasets to generate regional and sector-specific insights, followed by stakeholder-engaged focus groups designed to evaluate the usefulness of those insights for prevention and practice. A major component of this role involves qualitative data analysis, including analysis of focus group data collected from industry stakeholders, employers, workers, and state agency partners.

Training, Mentorship, & Professional Development: The student will receive hands-on mentorship in mixed-methods occupational health research, with a primary emphasis on qualitative data analysis and structured opportunities to strengthen quantitative skills. In parallel, the student will support integration of environmental and climate indicators (e.g., heat and extreme weather metrics) with occupational injury and illness data to examine how climate conditions intersect with injury patterns across regions and sectors, contributing analytic summaries, figures, and briefs for focus groups, stakeholder convenings, and dissemination products. Quantitative training will occur through close collaboration with a lead analyst responsible for advanced analyses of occupational injury surveillance data (e.g., OSHA inspection reports and OSHA 300 records). The student will have opportunities to lead qualitative analyses of stakeholder focus group data and to serve as a lead or co-author on peer-reviewed manuscripts arising from this work. Through participation in focus groups, webinars, workshops, and regional convenings, the student will also build professional networks with community-based researchers and community partners in agriculture, forestry, and fishing in the Pacific Northwest.

Duties and Responsibilities:

1. Qualitative Data Collection & Analysis (Primary Responsibility)

• Assist with development and refinement of focus group discussion guides.
• Manage qualitative data workflows, including transcription review, data organization, and coding.
• Conduct analysis of stakeholder focus group data collected across four states and three sectors (Agriculture, forestry, fishing) using established qualitative or mixed-methods approaches.

2. Stakeholder-Engaged Research & Focus Groups

• Work with the PNASH outreach team to support recruitment, scheduling, and coordination of focus groups.
• Assist with preparation of materials to present preliminary findings of quantitative analysis back to stakeholders for feedback and validation.
• Participate in select community-based focus groups with agriculture, forestry, and fishing communities across the Pacific Northwest (Alaska, Oregon, Idaho, and Washington), engaging directly with workers, employers, and regional partners

3. Occupational Injury Surveillance & Quantitative Analysis

• Support maintenance, cleaning, and documentation of derived datasets and summary statistics from publicly available occupational injury and illness sources (e.g., OSHA inspection reports and OSHA 300 records), in coordination with a lead analyst.
• Support integration of environmental and climate indicators (e.g., heat and extreme weather metrics) with occupational injury and illness data to examine how climate conditions intersect with injury patterns across regions, sectors, and worker populations.

4. Knowledge Translation & Peer Learning

• Translate qualitative and quantitative findings into accessible products for agriculture, forestry, and fishing partners. This includes research briefs, slide decks, and web-ready summaries.

5. Scholarly & Policy Outputs

• Lead and contribute to peer-reviewed manuscripts.
• Support preparation of final project reports and dissemination materials for grant renewals and regional partners.

Skills/Eligibility:

• Current graduate student (MPH, MS, PhD, or related degree) in public health, environmental health, occupational health, epidemiology, or a related field.
• Demonstrated experience with qualitative data analysis and analysis software for coding and thematic analysis of interviews or focus group data.
• Interest in occupational health, injury prevention, or worker health research.
• Strong organizational skills and ability to manage qualitative data across multiple sites and sectors.
• Proficiency in R.

Desired Qualifications:

This role is well-suited for a student with a strong quantitative and qualitative research background with an interest in occupational epidemiology, injury prevention, and community-engaged research.

Eligibility: Must be a current graduate student and registered for at least 10 credits during the quarter of employment.

Salary and Terms of Employment: 

• A 50% FTE Research Assistantship pays a stipend that varies depending on graduate level as indicated on Schedule 1 of the UW RA Salary Chart.
• Research Assistants are required to register for a minimum of 10 credits in the quarter that they hold the position.
• The operating fee (including tuition) will be paid by the department. However, the successful applicant will be responsible for paying any additional student fees.
• Graduate Appointee accident/sickness insurance will be provided.
• This job classification is governed by a negotiated labor contract and is subject to union shop provisions.

How to Apply:

• Review and confirm that you have satisfied the position eligibility requirements listed above.
• Send a single Word or PDF document that includes your résumé and a brief cover letter describing how your skills and experience qualify you for this position to rsklar@uw.edu and moschell@uw.edu by the application deadline listed above. Include email subject "RISC Research Assistant" as the title.

More Information about This Position:   This job classification is governed by a negotiated labor contract and is subject to union shop provisions. For more information about union shop provisions, visit:

http://www.washington.edu/admin/hr/jobs/apl/union-info.html 

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