Postdoctoral Research Associate in Computational Fluid Dynamics of Nearshore Processes

UMass Lowell•Lowell, MA

8d•Onsite

About The Position

The Department of Environmental, Earth, and Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Massachusetts Lowell invites applications for a postdoctoral research associate to join an NSF-funded project investigating physical transport and mixing processes at the groundwater-surface water interface in shallow coastal environments. Coastal groundwater is an important source of freshwater, nutrients, carbon, and other dissolved constituents to estuaries and the coastal ocean. The research combines field observations with high-resolution computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling to improve understanding of the hydrologic and oceanographic processes that govern fluid exchange in these environments. The successful candidate will assist with field investigations in coastal settings and lead CFD modeling. The postdoctoral researcher will work in a collaborative environment spanning hydrology, fluid dynamics, and coastal science. The position provides opportunities for scientific leadership, mentoring, conference participation, fieldwork, and development of open, transferable modeling tools.

Requirements

A PhD in Engineering, Hydrology, Oceanography, Physics, Geoscience, or related field.
Proficiency in scientific programming, cluster computing, and CFD modeling.

Nice To Haves

Experience developing, evaluating, and applying CFD (e.g., OpenFOAM) models to investigate coastal and nearshore hydrodynamics.
Broad understanding of coastal oceanographic processes.
Experience working in a collaborative environment.
Experience with script-based computational workflows using Python or MATLAB.
Demonstrated ability to conduct surf zone, hydrologic, or hydrogeologic field investigations.

Responsibilities

Lead the development, testing, and application of CFD simulations of density-dependent transport and mixing in dynamic coastal surface waters.
Develop reproducible workflows for model setup, high-performance computing, sensitivity analysis, and visualization of large simulation datasets.
Participate in field investigations, including installation, maintenance, and recovery of oceanographic and hydrological instrumentation.
Lead peer-reviewed manuscripts and conference presentations; collaborate with faculty, graduate and undergraduate researchers, and external project partners.