Research Specialist

A global higher education leader in innovative teaching, research and public service, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill consistently ranks as one of the nation's top public universities. Known for its beautiful campus, world-class medical care, commitment to the arts and top athletic programs, Carolina is an ideal place to teach, work and learn.

One of the best college towns and best places to live in the United States, Chapel Hill has diverse social, cultural, recreation and professional opportunities that span the campus and community.

University employees can choose from a wide range of professional training opportunities for career growth, skill development and lifelong learning and enjoy exclusive perks that include numerous retail and restaurant discounts, savings on local child care centers and special rates for performing arts events.

The UNC Institute for the Environment (IE) has a multifaceted mission: (1) To strengthen environmental research capacity across UNC by supporting a multi-disciplinary community of scholars that enhances collaboration, increases sharing of knowledge, and identifies solutions to the world's critical environmental problems. (2) To work in partnership across UNC and with external partners to coordinate and deliver 21st century educational programs that provide students with the experience and skills to thrive in a growing global economy. (3) To put new environmental knowledge into action by engaging and serving communities, here in North Carolina and around the world. (4) To fuel and harness the university's sustainability activities through the Sustainable Carolina Initiative

This position may be eligible for a hybrid work arrangement that may include a partially remote work location, consistent with System Office policy. UNC Chapel Hill employees are generally required to reside within a reasonable commuting distance of their assigned duty station.

The Data-Driven EnviroLab ( DDL) at UNC-Chapel Hill seeks a Research Specialist to contribute research to our recently launched Center for Climate Leadership and AI-driven Integrity in Mitigation ( CLAIM). CLAIM advances the credible use of artificial intelligence, especially generative AI and large language models (LLMs), to accelerate climate mitigation while safeguarding integrity in climate commitments.

This Research Specialist position is meant for recent BS/BA or Master graduates and early career professionals interested in exploring and refining their research skills in preparation for a doctoral program. The ideal candidate will research the use of LLMs as tools for mitigation strategy and accountability and scrutinize them as systems that can reproduce bias, misinformation, or greenwashing unless carefully benchmarked.

Working with an interdisciplinary team spanning computer science, climate policy, law, and social science, the candidate, based on their skills and background, could contribute to DDL's research projects that:

- Develop, adapt, and evaluate LLM/genAI systems for climate mitigation intelligence, especially for tracking and assessing commitments and actions by cities, regions, and non-state actors.
- Design and validate benchmarks, metrics, and auditing pipelines that test the accuracy, credibility, fairness, and robustness of LLM outputs related to climate targets, disclosures, and policy claims.
- Rigorously test genAI/ML models against misinformation, disinformation, and greenwashing, including stress-testing models under adversarial, low-resource, and multilingual settings.
- Study how generative AI shapes real-world climate behavior, including impacts on corporate and subnational mitigation planning, transparency, and accountability.
- Contribute to CLAIM's broader mission: data collection, methodological innovation, open tools, papers, and policy-facing outputs that improve climate commitment integrity.

Bachelor's degree in a discipline related to the area of assignment; or equivalent combination of training and experience. All degrees must be received from appropriately accredited institutions.

- Course work in Computer Science, Computing, Statistics Data Science, or related disciplines.
- Demonstrated hands-on experience training, fine-tuning, or adapting LLMs / generative AI models (e.g., instruction tuning, domain adaptation, RAG pipelines), with evidence in open-source code or deployed tools.
- Solid programming and ML/ NLP engineering skills in Python or ideally modern deep-learning stacks (e.g., PyTorch/ JAX, HuggingFace/Transformers, vector databases, agentic/ RAG tooling), with ability to build reproducible research pipelines.
- Proactive with ability to work in an interdisciplinary team environment
- Working knowledge of climate change mitigation or environmental governance, including familiarity with climate commitments, emissions accounting, or policy/action tracking

Applicants, please submit code samples, GitHub page or examples of relevant work

If you experience any problems accessing the system or have questions about the application process, please contact the Office of Human Resources at (919) 843-2300 or send an email to employment@unc.edu

Please note: The Office of Human Resources will not be able to provide specific updates regarding position or application status.

The University is an equal opportunity employer and welcomes all to apply without regard to age, color, gender, gender expression, gender identity, genetic information, national origin, race, religion, sex, or sexual orientation. We encourage all qualified applicants to apply, including protected veterans and individuals with disabilities.