The successful candidate will work on a range of projects that focus on improving the ability to understand and model permafrost response to climate and disturbances, and will utilize and modify existing models, e.g., the Geophysical Institute Permafrost Model (GIPL), to improve predictions of the rate and magnitude of permafrost degradation and associated subsidence and land loss for several regions across Alaska.

The successful candidate will:

  • Develop and parameterize 1-D and 2-D models of the temperature dynamics in the active layer and near-surface permafrost,
  • Evaluate and verify developed models against collected in-situ data,
  • Participate in remote field trips for collection of data relevant to the model parameterization,
  • Develop and address their own set of scientific hypotheses and questions within the bounds of projects at hand,
  • Participate in the proposal writing, and
  • Lead and co-lead publications of peer-reviewed manuscripts on permafrost modeling and related topics.

There will also be potential to participate in several other ongoing research projects and associated field work with the focus of understanding permafrost response to climate and disturbances.

Requirements includes:

  • PhD in physics, mathematics, engineering, geophysics, or related field. Some experience with geocryological processes is beneficial;
  • Excellent computational skills and working knowledge of MATLAB, FORTRAN, or at least some other programming language (e.g., Python, JavaScript);
  • Good written and oral English language skills;
  • Some knowledge of ArcGIS, common formats, georeferencing, and mapping tool boxes is desired;
  • Understanding calculus, linear algebra, statistics, numerical analysis, differential equations, finite differences, or finite element methods is advantageous; and
  • Experience with Linux and parallel computations is a strong asset.

Application deadline: 31 May 2023

For more information, go to:
Full position description

For questions, contact:
Louise Farquharson
Email: lmfarquharson@alaska.edu
Phone: 907-474-5623

Dmitry Nicolsky
Email: djnicolsky@alaska.edu