About the job
A Tri-University research team of hydrologists from the University of Arizona (UoA), Northern Arizona University (NAU), and Arizona State University (ASU) will be assisting the Arizona Department of Water Resources (DWR) to (1) identify areas where water that would otherwise evaporate could be captured for underground storage without affecting surface water flows; and (2) assess the potential to increase water supply availability in Arizona via enhanced recharge of unallocated water sources in urban and rural areas.
To achieve these goals, the team will analyze existing geospatial data and hydrometeorological observations, conduct multiscale hydrologic modeling efforts, and develop downscaled climate change projections. A key outcome of this project is the actionable use of the research products; towards this end, the team will coordinate multiple stakeholder workshops with industry partners, academia, government agencies, and community-based organizations. As such, working with this team will be a great opportunity to engage with a variety of actors involved in water management in the Western U.S., which are actively seeking solutions to address the impacts of the ongoing millennium megadrought..
Specific tasks of this position
We are seeking a Postdoctoral Research Scholar (PostDoc) that will perform basin-scale and distributed assessments of the water budget in the state of Arizona by analyzing historical hydrometeorological observations from ground sensors and gridded products, as well as the NOAA National Water Model CONUS Retrospective Dataset. The PostDoc will also characterize the terrain, soil, and land cover features of the state watersheds using GIS software. In a subsequent phase, the PostDoc will perform climate change projections of the water budget in select regions of the state.
The PostDoc will work closely with Dr. Giuseppe Mascaro at ASU. The start date is expected in early to mid-2023. Up to a three-year appointment is possible upon satisfactory performance.
Essential Duties
The position will require conducting quantitative hydrologic analyses, producing reports and peer-reviewed journal publications, engaging with faculty and graduate students of the tri-University team, and interacting with DWR staff.
Required Qualifications
· Ph.D. in Civil and Environmental Engineering or related fields.
· Experience programming and analyzing a large number of spatial maps and time series of hydroclimatological variables in MATLAB, Python, R, or similar language.
· Experience with statistical techniques for hydrologic analyses, hydrologic or land surface models, and GIS software.
Desired Qualifications
· Experience with remote sensing data and/or climate models.
· Experience with stakeholder engagement.
