Postdoc: AI for Hydrological Modeling & Earth Systems

Oak Ridge National Laboratory; Oak Ridge (TN); On-site; USD 65,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Relocation benefits

Excellent benefits package

Onsite amenities

Job summary

Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) invites applications for a Postdoctoral Research Associate in AI for hydrological modeling. The position focuses on developing AI foundations for hydrological and Earth system modeling, including physics-informed and hybrid AI approaches.

You will work with a multidisciplinary team using leadership-class computing facilities. The role requires a PhD in hydrology or related field within the last five years, strong computational science skills, and proficiency

Qualifications

• PhD in Hydrology, Earth system science, Water resources engineering, Computational sciences or related field completed within the last 5 years (or expected soon)
• Strong background in computational sciences, numerical methods, HPC or large-scale data analysis
• Experience applying AI/ML to hydrological and Earth sciences
• Proficiency in scientific programming languages such as Python, Julia, R, Fortran, or C/C++
• Evidence of scholarly productivity: publications and conference presentations

Responsibilities

• Develop and apply AI foundation models for hydrological and Earth system modeling, especially compound flooding
• Design physics-informed and physics-ML hybrid approaches
• Conduct multimodal data analysis integrating in situ observations, remote sensing, and model simulations
• Collaborate with hydrologists, Earth scientists, and computational scientists to use leadership‑class computing resources
• Contribute to scalable, explainable, and uncertainty‑aware AI methods
• Publish results in high-impact journals and present at conferences
• Engage with collaborators across DOE laboratories and universities
• Ensure compliance with ORNL safety, security, and environmental standards

Skills

Python

Julia

R

Fortran

C/C++

Education

PhD in Hydrology or Earth System Science

Recent PhD (within 5 years)

Tools

E3SM

HPC

Remote sensing data

Job description

Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) invites applications for a Postdoctoral Research Associate in AI for hydrological modeling. The position focuses on developing AI foundations for hydrological and Earth system modeling, including physics-informed and hybrid AI approaches.

You will work with a multidisciplinary team using leadership-class computing facilities. The role requires a PhD in hydrology or related field within the last five years, strong computational science skills, and proficiency