Postdoc: Severe Weather Risk Modeling for Insurance

American Meteorological Society, Inc.; Newark (DE); On-site; USD 65,000 - 75,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Conference travel

Professional development activities

Job summary

The Department of Geography and Spatial Sciences at the University of Delaware is seeking a Postdoctoral Researcher to characterize current and future U.S. severe convective storm (SCS) risk for insurance applications.

The project goals are to estimate present-day and future SCS risk using simulations from large ensemble systems and to identify and quantify uncertainty in historical trends and near-term model projections.

Qualifications

• Ph.D. in a relevant field (e.g., Atmospheric Science, Meteorology, Climate Science, Geography, or related areas) or should be completed with their Ph.D. degree requirements by January 2027.
• Experience with weather and/or climate model output (e.g., SPEAR, WRF, CESM), and familiarity with climate model frameworks (e.g., large ensembles).
• Proficiency in programming and data analysis (e.g., Python) and handling large datasets, such as from hindcasts, large ensembles, or Coupled Model Intercomparison Project.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to work independently as well as effectively in a collaborative, multidisciplinary team environment.

Responsibilities

• Develop data-driven models to simulate severe weather hazards like tornadoes and hail, and apply models to investigate severe weather hazard activity in large ensemble simulations.
• Evaluate model biases, e.g. from GFDL's Seamless System for Prediction and EArth System Research (SPEAR) large ensembles.
• Identify and explore sources of uncertainty in near-term SCS projections, e.g., from interannual to decadal climate variability.
• Publish findings on peer-reviewed journals, present progress at professional meetings, prepare project reports and deliverables, and collaborate with other research and industry teams on a regular basis.

Skills

Python

Data analysis

Written & verbal communication

Independent work

Team collaboration

Education

Ph.D. in Atmospheric Science or related field

Ph.D. degree requirements by January 2027

Tools

SPEAR

WRF

CESM

Job description

The Department of Geography and Spatial Sciences at the University of Delaware is seeking a Postdoctoral Researcher to characterize current and future U.S. severe convective storm (SCS) risk for insurance applications.

The project goals are to estimate present-day and future SCS risk using simulations from large ensemble systems and to identify and quantify uncertainty in historical trends and near-term model projections.