Post-Doctoral Fellow, Computational Seismology

Colorado School of Mines

6d • $63,000 - $65,000 • Onsite

About The Position

Engineering a world of possibilities Colorado School of Mines is hiring an 18.7-month (potential extension to 24 months) in-person Postdoctoral Fellow to advance seismic event and explosion monitoring through edge computing. Starting around May 1, 2026, the fellow will develop a Python-based edge-computing framework integrated with the Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS) Data Analysis Ecosystem, build and test the hardware system in both lab and field settings, and optimize algorithms for real-time performance. The role is funded through the federal MINEM (Multi-Informatics for Nuclear Explosion Monitoring) program and involves collaboration with Rice University partners. Colorado School of Mines Department of Geophysics is seeking a postdoctoral fellow to support our research on developing an edge computing system for seismic event and explosion monitoring. Beyond core development work, the fellow will publish research, prepare technical reports and proposals, present findings, and help mentor students and collaborators. Some travel may be required. Ideal candidates hold a PhD in computational science, geophysics, applied math, physics, civil engineering, or a related field, and bring a strong publication record, open-source software experience, and hands-on Python development skills. Experience with large seismic array datasets (100+ GB), machine learning applications in seismic analysis, DAS data collection, and real-time or edge computing systems is a strong plus. The postdoctoral fellow will grow a new open-source package within the Distributed Acoustic Sensing Data Analysis Ecosystem to analyze seismic events on an edge-computing system. They will conduct tests of this system, grow the framework with connections to other existing artificial intelligence tools, and optimize algorithms within the software to guarantee real-time performance under a variety of event and noise scenarios. The postdoctoral fellow will contribute to this project in close collaboration with the project team. Additional responsibilities include preparing project reports, scholarly publications, presentations, and research proposals. The role also involves close collaboration with research partners at Rice University, and the fellow may be required to travel and conduct on-site work to support key project activities. This project is funded through the Multi-Informatics for Nuclear Explosion Monitoring (MINEM) program.

Requirements

• A PhD in a related field (computational science and engineering, applied math, geophysics, physics civil engineering, or geosciences)
• Strong publication record in high quality peer-reviewed journals
• Record of contributing to or releasing open-source software for geophysics or signal processing
• Prior experience conducting research using a dense seismic array dataset that is at least 100 GB in total size
• Prior experience developing Python software
• Excellent communication skills, both oral and written
• Currently in the US with current work authorization

Nice To Haves

• Ability to travel to other states within the US
• Prior experience with characterization (e.g. location, magnitude, moment tensor) of seismic events
• Prior experience with optimization of algorithms for seismic data analysis
• Prior experience with applying machine learning and artificial intelligence tools to seismic array or network data
• Prior experience collecting distributed acoustic sensing data
• Prior experience with edge computing or real-time decision systems

Responsibilities

• Develop a python-based edge-computing framework compatible with DASCore
• Build and test an edge-computing hardware system connected to a DAS interrogator within test-bed laboratory and large-scale field trials
• Optimize algorithms for deployment within the edge-computing framework
• Document software, participate in feedback sessions with federal agency partners, and conduct tutorials for federal agency partners
• Prepare research manuscripts, presentations and technical reports
• Assist with mentoring of graduate and undergraduate students and training of research collaborators
• Assist with preparing research proposals resulting from the conducted research

Benefits

• Flexible health and dental care options
• Generous sick/vacation time: 13 paid holidays per year – including a week-long winter break for entire campus. (remove period)
• Fully vested retirement plan on first day of employment, with generous employer contribution
• Tuition benefits (6 credits per year for employees, 50 percent discount for dependents)
• Free RTD Ecopass (EcoPass)
• All Mines employees also have access to discount programs through the State of Colorado and free tickets for Mines Athletics home games, as well as access to the state-of-the-art Recreation Center (fitness classes and training, swimming pool and more) and equipment rentals through the Outdoor Rec Center.
• We are proud to have recently opened an on campus daycare center.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Education Level: Ph.D. or professional degree
• Number of Employees: 101-250 employees