Post-Doctoral Research Associate

SJSU Research Foundation • San Jose, CA

1d • $72,000 - $82,000

About The Position

The Radar Meteorologist (Post-Doctoral Researcher) will support the NASA INSPYRE field campaign, which aims to improve scientific understanding of pyro-cumulus (pyroCu) and pyro-cumulonimbus (pyroCb) dynamics associated with active wildfires. This position focuses on deploying and operating advanced mobile radar platforms in challenging wildfire environments and leading scientific analysis of radar observations. The successful candidate will play a central role in coordinating field operations, managing radar instrumentation, and conducting advanced data analysis to investigate fire-induced atmospheric processes. The appointment is for up to two years.

Requirements

• Ph.D. in Meteorology or a closely related field.
• Experience in deploying mobile radar platforms.
• Experience in radar data analysis.
• Pythin programming and analysis of polarimetric radar data.
• Ability to work in physically demanding and potentially hazardous wildfire environments.
• Ability to become fire-line qualified by passing basic firefighter (FF2) training
• Ability to pass the Arduous Pack Test for obtaining a Red Card.

Responsibilities

• Lead field deployments of WIRC’s mobile radar systems, including: Doppler Ka-band radar Doppler X-band radar G-band radar
• Coordinate logistics and on-site operations for radar deployments to active wildfire locations.
• Ensure safe and effective operation of mobile radar platforms in dynamic and potentially hazardous fire-line environments.
• Conduct high-quality data collection during wildfire events, ensuring proper calibration, operation, and troubleshooting of radar systems.
• Lead scientific analysis of radar datasets to address key research questions related to pyroCu and pyroCb dynamics, including: Fire-induced wind fields Plume dynamics and structure Hydro- and pyrometeor size distributions Characterization using dual-frequency ratios Polarimetric observations to isolate hydro- and pyro-meteor distributions within plume and cloud systems
• Contribute to scientific reporting, manuscript preparation, and presentation of results at conferences and technical meetings.
• Maintain compliance with safety standards and complete required wildfire and vehicle safety certifications.
• Other duties as assigned.

Benefits

• Four company health insurance plans to choose from (employee contributions differ according to plan and level of coverage).
• Employer-paid dental and vision for both employee and eligible dependents.
• Life, AD&D, LTD with supplemental coverage opportunities.
• 14 paid federal & state holidays.
• Retirement Plan: 403 (b) employee contribution plan component and a 403 (b) employer contribution component, which vests immediately.
• Vacation-hour accruals and separate sick-hour accumulations.
• Employee discounts.
• Paid training and professional-development conferences.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Education Level: Ph.D. or professional degree