Investigating the sensitivity of hydroclimate variability and drought to land surface processes[...]

ORAU; New York (NY); On-site; USD 65,000 - 85,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading aerospace research institution is offering postdoctoral research opportunities in Earth science through its program, focusing on climate change and hydroclimate dynamics. Applicants with a Doctoral Degree are eligible, including U.S. citizens, legal permanent residents, and eligible foreign nationals under specific visa categories. This role emphasizes conducting original research aimed at understanding the relationship between land use and climate variability, addressing critical environmental challenges.

Qualifications

• Degree must be a Doctoral Degree.
• Applicants must be U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents.

Responsibilities

• Conduct research on climate model simulations.
• Analyze the role of land surface in hydroclimate dynamics.
• Investigate interactions between land management and climate impact.

Education

Doctoral Degree

Job description

Overview

Organization: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Reference Code: 0011-NPP-NOV26-GISS-EarthSci

How To Apply: All applications must be submitted in Zintellect. Please visit the NASA Postdoctoral Program website for application instructions and requirements: How to Apply | NASA Postdoctoral Program (orau.org)

A complete application to the NASA Postdoctoral Program includes:

• Research proposal
• Three letters of recommendation
• Official doctoral transcript documents

Application Deadline: 11/1/2026 6:00:59 PM Eastern Time Zone

Description

The NASA Postdoctoral Program (NPP) offers unique research opportunities to highly-talented scientists to engage in ongoing NASA research projects at a NASA Center, NASA Headquarters, or at a NASA-affiliated research institute. These one- to three-year fellowships are competitive and are designed to advance NASA’s missions in space science, Earth science, aeronautics, space operations, exploration systems, and astrobiology.

This opportunity is closed to applicants who are Senior Fellows (5-years or more past PhD).

Climate change is expected to amplify drought risk and hydroclimate variability for many regions. However, the state of the land surface (e.g., land use and land cover), and the associated processes (e.g., evapotranspiration, energy partitioning), represents a major source of uncertainty that limits progress and confidence in model projections. This research opportunity focuses on analyzing existing climate model simulations (e.g., in the CMIP5 archive) or conducting new simulations of the GISS coupled climate model (ModelE) to investigate the role of the land surface in hydroclimate dynamics. Potential topics include (but are not limited to): 1) the potential for land management (e.g., crop management, irrigation, soil carbon) to modulate regional hydroclimate in context with climate change, variability, and extremes; 2) the importance of various land surface processes and their interactions with natural climate variability and climate change for enhancing or ameliorating drought risk; 3) the role of hydroclimate variability and land surface interactions in past and future heat extremes; 4) the seasonal dynamics and potential predictability of drought between the cold and warm season.

Location

Goddard Institute for Space Studies, New York City, New York

Field of Science

Earth Science

Advisors

Benjamin I. Cook
[e-mail]
212-678-5669

Eligibility

Eligibility is currently open to:

• U.S. Citizens;
• U.S. Lawful Permanent Residents (LPR);
• Foreign Nationals eligible for an Exchange Visitor J-1 visa status; and
• Applicants for LPR, asylees, or refugees in the U.S. at the time of application with 1) a valid EAD card and 2) I-485 or I-589 forms in pending status

Applications with citizens from Designated Countries will not be accepted at this time, unless they are Legal Permanent Residents of the United States. A complete list of Designated Countries can be found at: https://www.nasa.gov/oiir/export-control.

Questions

Please email [e-mail]

Point of Contact

Mikeala

Eligibility Requirements

• Degree: Doctoral Degree.