Research Scientist: Physical/Geological Data Scientist, Geologist, or Physical Oceanographer
The Institute’s Applied Geosciences Program is looking to recruit top scientists in fields related to geological data science; fluvial, deltaic, and coastal geomorphology and processes; regional sediment management; Quaternary geology; numerical modeling (physics-based and machine learning); and high-resolution shallow stratigraphy with applications to resource management.
Position Description
The Water Institute of the Gulf is seeking research geological data scientists, geologists, and/or physical oceanographers at various career levels to join a growing team of interdisciplinary scientists conducting research to develop and apply novel decision support technical tools to inform coastal, river, and natural resource management. These positions report to the Director of Applied Geosciences.
Roles and Responsibilities:
· Initiates, conducts, and publishes original research, typically requiring creativity and modification to existing procedures, methods, applications, and techniques, and develops entirely new approaches to address novel or specialized problems for which existing methods are not substantially applicable.
· Develops and nurtures relationships with scientific peers across disciplines, partners and collaborators, potential clients, decision makers, and end users to advance science and its applications, obtain new projects, and expand the Applied Geosciences program portfolio of original science products, decision support tools, and interdisciplinary collaborators.
· Actively pursues external funding to support research activities.
· Develops collaborative, interdisciplinary projects with colleagues within The Institute and other research organizations.
· For more senior research scientists: Represents an authoritative source for consultation by other scientists and managers and is tasked with the responsibility of assisting or leading the design of and implementing research programs aimed to resolve complicated, controversial, and multidisciplinary issues that have broad impacts to informing public policy and management decisions.
Required Qualifications:
- M.S. or Ph.D. in geosciences, oceanography, engineering, physics, or related field with specific experience in data science, stratigraphy, quantitative geomorphology, or coastal and fluvial geomorphology.
- Extensive knowledge of the principles of geology and highly developed ability in their application.
- Experience in development and application of research to inform management decisions.
- Readily exercises independent judgment to perform scientific work of marked difficulty and responsibility.
- Strong interpersonal skills and a desire to work collaboratively in a team environment.
- Expertise in Quaternary geology and geomorphology of the northern Gulf of Mexico and/or Atlantic coastal plain and shelf.
- Familiarity with acquisition, analysis, and interpretation of high-resolution geophysical data.
- Ability to clearly communicate highly technical concepts to a general audience and defend controversial research findings in public forums.
- Strong leadership, project management, and time management skills; highly organized, creative, and detail-oriented; professional demeanor.
Desired Knowledge and Experience:
- Expertise in developing and employing numerical models (physics-based and/or machine learning) to simulate geomorphic, hydrodynamic, and geologic phenomenon and features with application to natural resources management.
- Expertise in development and application of artificial intelligence/machine learning predictive tools for natural systems.
- Expertise in predicting coastal, wetland, and fluvial response to sea-level rise, storms, and other drivers of change using numerical modeling and analytical methods.
- Experience with tools relevant to quantifying sediment dynamics, development of sediment budgets, and modeling stratigraphy.
- Experience in software development using Python
- Familiarity with high-performance computing and “big data” related issues including application development, cloud storage and processing, and processing workflows.
- Demonstrated success as a project manager/project lead on complex interdisciplinary projects.