Position: American University Washington College of Law, Entry-level or Junior Lateral Tenure Track Faculty (Deadline: unknown, Washington, DC)

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American University’s Washington College of Law is hiring in the environmental and energy law space this year. 

Application Portal:  http://apply.interfolio.com/128834.

American University Washington College of Law (AUWCL) seeks applications for the 2024-2025 academic year for: one entry-level or junior lateral tenure-track position in constitutional law, data privacy, gender and law, or environmental law; and two tenure-track positions in clinical law, with particular interest in entry-level or lateral candidates who would teach the Civil Advocacy Clinic or the Gender Justice Clinic. We are especially interested in candidates who will contribute to our vibrant and diverse community.

Candidates must hold a J.D., Ph.D., or equivalent degree by the date of their application. We seek candidates who are, or who promise to be, innovative and productive scholars, exemplary teachers, and dynamic and engaged institutional citizens.

Applications, including a curriculum vitae and cover letter, should be submitted on Interfolio: http://apply.interfolio.com/128834. If you have general questions regarding the application process, please contact Erica Devine, Faculty Coordinator, at edevine@wcl.american.edu. Please contact Professor Brandon Weiss, Chair, Faculty Appointments Committee, at weiss@wcl.american.edu with any other questions. Although there is no formal deadline, we will begin interviewing candidates as early as August 2023, so interested candidates are encouraged to apply as soon as possible.

American University is an equal opportunity, affirmative action institution that operates in compliance with applicable laws and regulations. The university does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex (including pregnancy), age, sexual orientation, disability, marital status, personal appearance, gender identity and expression, family responsibilities, political affiliation, source of income, veteran status, an individual’s genetic information or any other bases under federal or local laws (collectively “Protected Bases”) in its programs and activities.

American University is a tobacco and smoke free campus. 

Hiring offers for this position are contingent on the successful completion of a background check.

Fellowship: Univ. Oregon Law School, Environmental and Natural Resources Law Center, Research Associate (Deadline: unknown, Eugene, OR)

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Of potential interest to new law grads interested in environmental/climate law. Research associate position to work with Prof. Greg Dotson for two years on climate-related legal research. Position announcement here: https://careers.uoregon.edu/en-us/job/532579/pro-tem-enr-research-associate-school-of-law-open-pool .

Position: Vermont Law and Graduate School, Assistant/Associate Prof. (water law) (Deadline: unknown, South Royalton, VT)

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Vermont Law and Graduate School is hiring for an assistant/associate environmental law professor specializing in water law.

https://recruiting.paylocity.com/recruiting/jobs/Details/1886947/Vermont-Law-School/AssistantAssociate-Professor—Environmental-Law

Deadline is probably on typical academic recruitment calendar, so application asap is advisable.

Position: Univ. Iowa College of Law, Hubbell Environmental Law Initiative, Associate Director (Deadline: unknown, Iowa City, IA)

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The University of Iowa College of Law is looking to hire an Associate Director for the Hubbell Environmental Law Initiative. The job announcement is posted here. And more information about the Hubbell Environmental Law Initiative may be found here.

The email I saw about this referred to this as an administrative/teaching position, i.e. a combination of teaching and administrative work. (From job description, it looks like one course per year, in addition to administrative work.) Re the deadline, I think the announcement indicates that the position description is open at least 2 weeks; I first saw an email about this the week of Sept. 5.

Position: Santa Clara University, Dept. of Environmental Studies & Sciences, Assistant Prof. of Race, Justice, and the Environment (Deadline: Oct. 30, 2023, Santa Clara, CA)

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Assistant Professor in Race, Justice, and the Environment

The Department of Environmental Studies & Sciences at Santa Clara University (SCU), a highly ranked Jesuit Catholic university, invites applications for a tenure-track Assistant Professor position in Race, Justice, and the Environment. The successful candidate will start on September 1, 2024 and be expected to teach, engage in a scholarship program, and do service for the Department, College and University.  We seek a teaching/scholar who will conduct applied research at the intersection of race, justice, and the environment. We encourage applications from fields including, but not limited to, Environmental Law, Public Health, Anthropology, Sociology, Development Studies, Urban Studies, Urban Planning, Politics and Policy, and Food Systems. 

The College is currently conducting its third cluster hire in the area of Inequality & Social Justice, and as part of this cluster hire faculty in this position will receive mentorship, peer support for their scholarly and creative work. Applicants must have a Ph.D. (completion required by the time of appointment) in an environmental social science or related field, with specific expertise in race, justice, and the environment. Post-doctoral research and/or undergraduate teaching experience are highly valued. 

The Department values community-engaged and environmental justice research, is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive workplace, and strongly encourages applications from members of historically excluded groups, including people of color, women, LGBTQ+, and people with disabilities. SCU has recently recruited an increasingly diverse faculty, enrolled more diverse and low-income students, and committed to becoming a Hispanic Serving Institution. For more information about the Department see https://www.scu.edu/cas/ess/

For a complete job description and instructions for submission of materials electronically, visit: https://tinyurl.com/SCUTTRaceJusticeEnvironR3757 Completed applications must be received by October 30, 2023. Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, CA, has a housing assistance program and is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer.

ChatGPT and climate change/greenhouse gas emissions Info

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I have been trying out ChatGPT to explore its capabilities. And my one-sentence conclusion after using it to ask some very basic/simple greenhouse gas emission-related questions: Use ChatGPT with extreme caution and expect errors, even on simple data questions.

Here is a slightly expanded explanation. I asked ChatGPT about the GHG emissions for China, the US, and the globe . According to ChatGPT, China’s share of global GHG emissions was 28%, while the US share was 15% for 2021. In terms of absolute number, it also indicated that China’s 2019 emissions were 10.17 gigatons of carbon dioxide carbonequivalents and US emissions in 2019 were 5.41 gigatons (based on information from the Global Carbon Project). This seemed plausible (and was close to what I found when checking the Global Carbon Project website directly). However, it then gave global GHG emissions for 2019 at 59.1 gigatons – that of course does not plausibly match up with the numbers and percentages for the US and China. Based on the 2019 US and China numbers, global emission should be to 36 gigatons.

It seems likely that it served up numbers that encompassed different GHG sources, i.e. possibly including land use emissions in one set of numbers and ignoring them in the other. In any event, I was surprised that Chatgpt provided internally inconsistent answers. When challenged, here is what ChatGPT said:

“You are correct that the numbers I provided in my previous answers were inconsistent. I apologize for the confusion and any misinformation that may have caused. According to the latest available data from the Global Carbon Project, China’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in 2019 were approximately 14.1 gigatons of carbon dioxide equivalent (GtCO2e), which is about 30% of global emissions. The United States was the second-largest emitter with approximately 4.9 GtCO2e or about 11% of global emissions. Global GHG emissions in 2019 were indeed around 59 GtCO2e, as you mentioned. The largest sources of global GHG emissions are energy-related emissions from burning fossil fuels for electricity, transportation, and industry, as well as emissions from agriculture, land use, and waste management. Again, I apologize for any confusion my previous answers may have caused, and I hope this clarifies the correct information about global and Chinese GHG emissions in 2019.”

Better explanation, but … still 🤔 ｢(ﾟﾍﾟ) ｢(･ิ.･ิ) ｢(‘◉⌓◉’)

Of course, I should have noted that many people have reported ChatGPT making serious mistakes and providing wildly wrong answers. But I thought a simple data information request should be a softball – not much different from a traditional search engine query. But clearly not so. Too bad that ChatGPT cannot even be trusted for some simple data queries.