Job Details

CIRES / NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory: Postdoctoral Scientist in Developing Dynamical Downscaling Methods to Improve Coastal Water Level Predictions

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Position Number: 6605034
Location: Boulder, CO
Position Type: Science - Geology, Earth Sciences & Oceanography

CIRES / NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory: Postdoctoral Scientist in Developing Dynamical Downscaling Methods to Improve Coastal Water Level Predictions

Requisition Number: 67541
Location: Boulder Colorado
Employment Type: Research Faculty
Schedule: Full Time
Posting Close Date:
Date Posted:

Job Summary

The Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) is seeking a Postdoctoral Associate to conduct research with a collaborative team toward enhancing ensemble coastal water level predictions on subseasonal to seasonal timescales. The candidate will develop, test, and apply advanced dynamical downscaling methods to prepare meteorological output from global ensemble prediction systems for coastal water level prediction applications. The project's outputs will serve a diverse community of users including fellow researchers in coastal environment forecasting communities, operational streamflow forecasting entities, and water resource decision-makers.
CU is an Equal Opportunity Employer and complies with all applicable federal, state, and local laws governing nondiscrimination in employment. We are committed to creating a workplace where all individuals are treated with respect and dignity, and we encourage individuals from all backgrounds to apply, including protected veterans and individuals with disabilities.

Who We Are

CIRES is an internationally recognized leader in innovative environmental science and research and is located at the University of Colorado Boulder. At CIRES, more than 900 environmental science professionals work to understand the dynamic Earth system, including people's relationship with the planet. CIRES has partnered with NOAA since 1967, and our areas of expertise include weather and climate, changes at Earth's poles, air quality and atmospheric chemistry, water resources, solid Earth sciences, and more. Our vision is to be instrumental in ensuring a sustainable future environment by advancing scientific and societal understanding of the Earth system.

The NOAA-Physical Sciences Laboratory (PSL) mission is to conduct scientific research to observe, understand, model, predict and forecast weather, water and climate extremes and their impacts. Our vision is an informed society that uses science-based environmental intelligence to effectively anticipate and respond to threats and opportunities related to weather, water, and climate extremes. Our research goals are as follows:

Rigorously characterize and predict weather, water, and climate extremes and their uncertainties to support NOAA's mission.
Develop new process-understanding, observing, and modeling capabilities to predict conditions associated with too much or too little water for early warning, preparedness, resource management, and adaptation.
Improve monitoring and prediction of weather, climate, and water conditions impacting marine resources.

What Your Key Responsibilities Will Be

Develop and/or apply dynamical downscaling techniques to prepare ensemble numerical subseasonal-to-seasonal climate predictions for use in a coastal water level prediction system. (40%)
Work with a team of scientists to improve skill, reliability, and interpretability of coastal water level predictions for use in operational outlooks of the risks of high tide flooding along the U.S. coastline. (30%)
Provide scientific and technical direction for experimental designs to understand and characterize different approaches to dynamical downscaling along the U.S. coastline, including ML-based error correction. (20%)
Prepare and present results to scientific audiences and to stakeholders via journal publications, conference presentations, and/or user-group meetings. (10%)

What You Should Know

This is a 2-year term position with the possibility of extension based on the availability of funds.
This position will be rostered in CIRES at the University of Colorado Boulder but will be physically situated in the NOAA laboratory facility at the David Skaggs Research Center, 325 Broadway, Boulder, CO 80305.
If you are selected for this position, you will be required to pass a federal laboratory background clearance for site access.
Given project deliverables, candidates must be able to start work by November 1, 2025.
Visa sponsorship is not offered for this position. Candidates working in the U.S through a visa or a working permit are not eligible for hire in this role.

What We Can Offer

CIRES offers a generous compensation package.
The annual hiring salary range for this position is $65,000- $70,000. Salary is commensurate with education and experience and determined based on our CIRES internal career-track classification.
An opportunity to work on developing techniques for dynamical downscaling of climate forecast models, which will be used in next-generation prediction systems for the risks of coastal inundation on subseasonal to annual time scales.
This position can accommodate a hybrid work modality.
CIRES and the University of Colorado Boulder offer a robust training curriculum, opportunities for professional development, and a Mentorship Program.
Boulder is a vibrant community with access to mountain parks, dog parks, miles of trails, rivers, lakes, cafes, restaurants, boutiques, theaters, museums, and sports venues.
As an employee at CU Boulder, you will have free access to the regional public transit system, an outstanding network of buses, and light rail systems that service Boulder and connect to Denver, the Denver airport, and surrounding communities.

Benefits

The University of Colorado offers excellent benefits, including medical, dental, retirement, paid time off, tuition benefit and ECO Pass. The University of Colorado Boulder is one of the largest employers in Boulder County and offers an inspiring higher education environment. Learn more about the University of Colorado Boulder.

Be Statements

Be collaborative. Be entrepreneurial. Be Boulder.

What We Require

A PhD in atmospheric, earth, marine, or related Physical Sciences.
Experience using Linux/Unix systems and developing structured code in Python, MATLAB, and/or shell scripting.

What You Will Need

Expertise in physical coastal oceanography.
Demonstrated ability to design and run hindcast experiments using high resolution coastal models with unstructured grids.
Interest in coastal inundation forecasting on S2S time scales.
Ability to work and communicate effectively within a team environment and to facilitate communications across multiple teams and multiple organizational units.

Special Instructions

To apply, please submit the following materials:

Resume or CV.
Cover letter addressed to the Search Committee briefly describing your qualifications, professional goals, and specific interest in this position.
Although not required at the time of application, please be ready to submit contact information for professional references (name, title, professional relationship, email) who may be contacted on your behalf. If you are selected as a finalist for this role, the search committee will request letters of recommendation at a later time.

If you are selected as the finalist, your degree will be verified by the CU Boulder Campus Human Resources department using an approved online vendor. If your degree was obtained outside of the United States, please submit a translated version as an optional attachment.

The position will close on October 1, 2025.

Note: Application materials will not be accepted via email. For consideration, applications must be submitted through CU Boulder Jobs.

In compliance with the Colorado Job Application Fairness Act, in any materials you submit, you may redact or remove age-identifying information such as age, date of birth, or dates of school attendance or graduation. You will not be penalized for redacting or removing this information.

To apply, visit https://jobs.colorado.edu/jobs/JobDetail/CIRES-NOAA-Physical-Sciences-Laboratory-Postdoctoral-Scientist-in-Developing-Dynamical-Downscaling-Methods-to-Improve-Coastal-Water-Level-Predictions/67541