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Graduate Assistant Position at the Duke Center on Risk in Duke Science & Society: Space Risks and Regulatory Policies
The Duke Center on Risk seeks a Master's in Bioethics & Science Policy graduate student assistant in 2024-25 to help research, write, and organize activities on space risks and regulatory policies. The Duke Center on Risk is a university-wide, multidisciplinary research and policy center, based in the Duke Science & Society Initiative. It conducts research, events, education, and policy outreach on a wide array of risks to health, safety, environment, and security, from local to national to global/planetary scales.
The Duke Center on Risk is currently engaged in research on space risks and regulatory policies, such as regarding: space debris in Earth orbit; property rights to space resources; liability for harms due to space activities; military conflicts in space; space-based climate engineering; asteroid collisions; space weather; interplanetary microbial contamination; settlements on and potential terraforming of other planets; and related topics. This research addresses scientific, engineering, social, economic, and public policy aspects of multiple risks, and it addresses policymaking institutions at both the national level (e.g. US law and multiple federal agencies such as NASA, State Department, DOT/FAA, DOC, DOD, CDC, OSTP, and others), and relations among spacefaring national governments (e.g. the US, EU, Japan, China, Russia, India, UAE, and others) and with non-governmental actors and the commercial space industry (e.g. SpaceX, Blue Origin, Intuitive Machines, and more). We are also helping to lead a Bass Connections project at Duke in academic year 2024-25 on “Future Space Settlement: Lessons from History,” and teaching related courses such as Space Law / Laws of Mars (Duke Law course 557) in Fall 2024.
Key tasks This student will work with our team to research, write, and help organize activities on these topics.
Job Requirements - Current student in the MA in Bioethics & Science Policy at Duke University. Skills requirements strong research and writing skills ability to work independently and on a deadline education and/or experience in relevant fields of study Optional: education and/or experience in some aspect of risk analysis and/or space risks and regulatory policies) eagerness to learn new skills and topic areas as needed Please include a current CV or resume, a description of your areas of interest, and a summary of your relevant education/coursework. The position will involve up to 10 hours per week in the Fall and Spring semesters, 2024–2025. |