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Seeking Prospective Master's, Ph.D. and Post-doctorate Students/ Visiting Scholars in the field of

"Cross-sector Solutions to Complex Environmental Issues"

We are recruiting prospective Master's, Ph.D. and Postdoc students or visiting scholars with relevant research experience or expertise in the area of strategic alliances (especially cross-sector partnerships) for sustainability, corporate environmental management & strategy, and stakeholder involvement in environmental governance. Also required is strong data collection or statistical analysis skills.  The project description is as follows:

Since the 1990s, industry has increasingly collaborated with governments, non-government organizations (NGOs), and universities to tackle a myriad of complex social, economic and environmental issues, such as climate change, energy and natural resource conservation, supply chain management, and cross-boundary pollution. Such cross-sector partnerships work at the intersection of markets and regulations to bring about social and environmental change that neither partner alone could achieve. As an example, Pollution Probe, a Canadian charitable environmental organization, has aligned with the Canadian Automobile Association to increase the fuel efficiency of vehicles, and has partnered with Toronto Hydro to jointly market electric vehicles. The importance of strategic alliances in environmental protection notwithstanding, we know little about how organizations from different sectors can come together to address environmental issues in a manner that may achieve greater impact than afforded by their resources or competencies taken separately.

Our research aims to enhance the theoretical understanding of, and generate practical solutions for, pressing Canadian environmental issues. Our focus is on exploring the motivation, configuration, dynamic process, and the outcomes of cross-sector partnerships formed to address complex environmental issues. Our research team includes five faculty members: Haiying Lin (University of Waterloo), Oana Branzei (University of Western Ontario), Jonathan Doh (University of Villanova), Miguel Rivera-Santos (Babson College), David Graham Hyatt (University of Arkansas) and one practitioner Bob Oliver (Pollution Probe). This project is generously funded by Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) for a total of five years (2012-2017).  

Through participating in this project, the prospective research scholars or students will learn to: 1) collect archival secondary data; 2) conduct intensive cross-sector partnership case studies; 2) network with companies, industrial associations, non-governmental organizations, universities, and governmental agencies; 3) apply mixed research methods (both quantitative and qualitative) in conducting preliminary research; and 4) complete your research papers (including thesis and dissertation) using the collected data. The selected research scholars or students will be provided with research funding.

If you have interest in joining the research team, please contact Dr. Haiying Lin at h45lin@uwaterloo.ca, and send your CV and examples of research work by June 15, 2013.

Thank you,