CIRES / NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory, Research Scientist in Seasonal Predictions of Coastal Water Level and Morphological Variations

CIRES is an internationally recognized leader in innovative environmental science and research and is located at the University of Colorado Boulder. At CIRES, more than 900 environmental science professionals work to understand the dynamic Earth system, including people’s relationship with the planet. CIRES has partnered with NOAA since 1967, and our areas of expertise include weather and climate, changes at Earth’s poles, air quality and atmospheric chemistry, water resources, solid Earth sciences, and more. Our vision is to be instrumental in ensuring a sustainable future environment by advancing scientific and societal understanding of the Earth system.

The NOAA-Physical Sciences Laboratory (PSL) mission is to conduct scientific research to observe, understand, model, predict and forecast weather, water and climate extremes and their impacts. Our vision is an informed society that uses science-based environmental intelligence to effectively anticipate and respond to threats and opportunities related to weather, water, and climate extremes. Our research goals are as follows:

• Rigorously characterize and predict weather, water, and climate extremes and their uncertainties to support NOAA's mission.
• Develop new process-understanding, observing, and modeling capabilities to predict conditions associated with too much or too little water for early warning, preparedness, resource management, and adaptation.
• Improve monitoring and prediction of weather, climate, and water conditions impacting marine resources.

• Work with a team of scientists to improve skill, reliability, and interpretability of coastal water level predictions for use in operational outlooks of the risks of high tide flooding along the U.S. coastline. (30%)
• Provide scientific and technical direction for experimental designs to understand and characterize distributions of total water level and its components, and how they impact changing risks of coastal flooding. (30%)
• Apply hydrodynamic and morphodynamic models to investigate predictability related to coastal water levels, in support of subseasonal-to-seasonal coastal prediction systems. (30%)
• Prepare proposals and present results to scientific audiences and to stakeholders via journal publications, conference presentations, and/or user-group meetings. (10%)

• This is a 2-year term position with the possibility of extension based on the availability of funds.
• Visa sponsorship is not offered for this position. Candidates working in the United States through a visa or a work permit or needing sponsorship now or in the future are not eligible for hire in this role.
• This position will be rostered in CIRES at the University of Colorado Boulder, but will be physically situated in the NOAA laboratory facility at the David Skaggs Research Center, 325 Broadway, Boulder, CO 80305.
• If you are selected for this position you will be required to pass a federal laboratory background clearance for site access.
• Given project deliverables, candidates must be able to start work by November 1, 2025.

• CIRES offers a generous compensation package.
• The annual hiring salary range for this position is $80,000 - $93,992. Salary is commensurate with education and experience and determined based on our CIRES internal career-track classification.
• An opportunity to work on developing techniques for dynamical downscaling of climate forecast models, which will be used in next-generation prediction systems for the risks of coastal inundation on subseasonal to annual time scales.
• This position can accommodate a hybrid work modality.
• CIRES and the University of Colorado Boulder offer a robust training curriculum, opportunities for professional development, and a Mentorship Program.
• CIRES and the University of Colorado Boulder offer a robust training curriculum, opportunities for professional development and a Mentorship Program.
• Boulder is a vibrant community with access to mountain parks, dog parks, miles of trails, rivers, lakes, cafes, restaurants, boutiques, theaters, museums, and sports venues.
• As an employee at CU Boulder, you will have free access to the regional public transit system, an outstanding network of buses and light rail systems that service Boulder and connect to Denver, the Denver airport, and surrounding communities.

• A PhD in Civil Engineering or a related discipline.
• Three years of experience (beyond Ph.D.) in Civil Engineering with a research background in modeling both nearshore water level distributions and coastal morphodynamic processes.
• Experience using Linux/Unix systems and developing structured code in Python, Matlab, and/or shell scripting.

• Demonstrated ability to design and run experiments with nearshore hydrodynamic and morphodynamic models.
• Expertise in using Stochastically Generated Skewed distributions for evaluating coastal water level extremes.
• Interest in coastal inundation forecasting on S2S time scales.
• Ability to work and communicate effectively within a team environment and to facilitate communications across multiple teams and multiple organizational units.

Please note that while the position details both required and preferred skills and experience, we invite applicants to apply even if they do not have the preferred skills and experience outlined in this section. If you meet the requirements and have passion for the work, you are encouraged to apply. We encourage on the job training for any additional skills or knowledge that become relevant to the position.

• Experience with statistical and/or dynamical coastal prediction techniques.
• Experience with scientific analysis and visualization tools.

To apply, please submit the following materials:

• Resume or CV.
• Cover letter addressed to the Search Committee briefly describing your qualifications, professional goals, and specific interest in this position.
• Although not required at the time of application, please be ready to submit 3 professional references (name, title, professional relationship, email) who may be contacted on your behalf. You don’t need to include letters of recommendation with your initial application. If you are selected as a finalist for this role, the search committee will request one letter of recommendation at a later time.

This position will close on October 17, 2025.

Note: Application materials will not be accepted via email. For consideration, applications must be submitted through CU Boulder Jobs.