LEAP is hiring: Postdoctoral Researcher Assistant: Livestock Transitions and the Media

We are seeking a full-time Postdoctoral Research Assistant to join the Livestock, Environment and People (LEAP) project at the Department of Zoology and the School of Geography and the Environment in Central Oxford. The post is funded by the Wellcome Trust and will be fixed-term for 12 months.

The ways the media report contemporary issues have a profound agenda-setting role in determining what the public think is important and shapes the manner in which discussions about them take place. Although various social, political and economic factors impact dietary choices, common media narratives and counter-narratives about the environment, meat eating and diet also influence these choices. Reporting to Dr Jamie Lorimer and Dr James Painter this project aims to identify prevailing narratives or framings that could be seen as preventing or promoting changes towards a more healthy, just and sustainable food system. Mainstream media, social media, and niche publications will be included. The post holder will be responsible for carrying out extensive content analysis of distinct forms of media, using a variety of research methods used in the analysis of content on mainstream and social media, and publishing the results. This research will build on past and ongoing LEAP research on media treatments of animal agriculture and alternatives to meat eating and will help to identify major areas of future research.

Applicants should hold a PhD (or be near to completion) in a discipline related to the project, or equivalent experience, with proven experience working with relevant qualitative, quantitative, and/or computational methods for carrying out content analysis of mainstream and/or social media. You should also be familiar with existing literature on food systems, climate change and dietary change, news media, and digital media.

Informal inquiries should be directed to kelly.reed@zoo.ox.ac.uk