Recommendation Letter for Postdoc Fellowship Program

Within this sample recommendation letter for postdoc I am excited to apply to the Provost’s Postdoctoral Fellowship Program at New York University (NYU). I am a NASA Earth and Space Science fellow completing my PhD in Boston University’s (BU) Department of Earth and Environment where I work with Mark Friedl and Rachael Garrett. My research on the sustainability of livestock production systems complements NYU’s expertise in climate, food systems, and animal studies. I use a broad set of quantitative methods that allow me to collaborate with social and natural scientists and as such I am well positioned to both benefit from and contribute to the ongoing work at the Department of Environmental Studies.

Relevant Background

My interest in agriculture began early in life, during many summers spent helping my grandmother with her gardening. We planted and harvested produce, feeding our family through the cold winter months in Bulgaria. Years later, my childhood love of farming led me to food security research, which aims to improve the lives and livelihoods of people around the world by using remote technology. From 2012 to 2014, as a research assistant at the Earth Institute of Columbia University, I used vegetation remote sensing products to help smallholder farmers detect drought, which often leads to food insecurity and loss of productive assets such as livestock. My research assistant experience inspired me to work on the social dimensions of food systems but first I wanted to expand my technical skills by obtaining a PhD. As a graduate student at BU, I draw on methods from econometrics, machine learning, and remote sensing to assess the sensitivity of global pasturelands to climate variability and to quantify pastureland degradation in the Southern Cone of South America. The goal of my current and future research is to understand how human activity is transforming landscapes and how rancher communities in the Southern Cone of South America in particular can benefit from remote sensing technology. As a fellow at NYU, I am excited to collaborate with faculty at the Department of Environmental Studies to apply my technical skills and livestock production systems expertise to address the social dimensions of land degradation.

Teaching

As a teaching fellow at BU, I trained undergraduate students how to utilize their diverse disciplinary backgrounds for creative environmental problem-solving. In addition to traditional classroom instruction, I employed inquiry-based learning strategies such as case studies, debate, and structured games in two courses: Natural Environments and Environmental Change and Sustainability. In facilitating discussion sections and labs, I have learned how to engage students and allow them to uncover the social-ecological challenges and collaboratively create solutions. My experience teaching students from natural and social science backgrounds is well suited for the Department of Environmental Studies at NYU where I can teach courses at the intersection of environmental science and society.

Broader Impacts and Outreach

Beyond advancing the field of sustainable agriculture, I am very passionate and dedicated to making a broader impact through my career in science, and particularly, to providing a positive influence as a role model for girls and young women in science. As a member of BU and the Boston community at large, I have been involved in leadership roles that promote the participation of women in STEM fields. I manage volunteers and mentor with the Girls Science Club, a BU Graduate Women in Science and Engineering (GWISE) outreach group. In addition, I served on the officer board of GWISE as a Communications Director, managing our groups website and social media, and organizing professional development and social events that promote women in science. As part of the NYU community, I would bring my leadership training to the Women in Science program where I can support and mentor undergraduate women and help build a similar community for graduates and postdocs.

Conclusion: Future at NYU

The research and facilitator experience I have acquired at Columbia University and BU provided me with the interdisciplinary skill set necessary to rigorously investigate many human and environmental dimensions of agricultural sustainability. I believe I am a good fit for the Provost’s Postdoctoral Fellowship Program due to my ability to collaborate across disciplines in both teaching and research. As a remote sensing scientist with a focus on the impacts of human management and climate on agricultural systems, I am excited to pursue my research goals within NYU’s Department of Environmental Studies. Specifically, there are potential synergies between my research interests and the work of Dr. Matthew Hayek, Dr. Sonali McDermid, Dr. Andrew Bell and Dr. Kimberly Carlson. Moreover, the Provost’s Postdoctoral Fellowship Program will provide me with the training, mentoring and professional development necessary to pursue my professional goal of becoming a university professor.