The Department of Coastal Studies in East Carolina University (ECU) is hiring a post-doctoral scholar with expertise in coastal hydrodynamic modeling and statistics as part of a 3- year NASA-funded project investigating feedbacks between coastal ecosystems, cyclone activity, and coastal protection benefits in the Caribbean. The postdoc will lead the development and application of a modeling framework to integrate remotely sensed datasets with coastal hydrodynamic models for dynamic assessments of the flood protection benefits of coastal ecosystems. The postdoc will be mentored by Dr. Siddharth Narayan and Dr. David Lagomasino at ECU and work closely with colleagues at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.

The main responsibilities of the postdoc will be to develop a coastal modeling framework that will integrate new remotely sensed data on meteorological, bathymetry and coastal ecosystems within 2-D and 1-D coastal numerical models, to assess how changes to offshore and ecosystem conditions will influence the flood protection benefits of these ecosystems in coastal floodplains.

Duties include: setting up and validating numerical coastal models to assess flooding, integrating remote sensing datasets into the coastal models, mapping flood extents, developing a statistical model to assess influence of meteorological, ocean and ecosystem variables on flood extents, working collaboratively as part of a larger interdisciplinary team, developing independent and collaborative presentations and publications. Scholars are expected to demonstrate compliance with established guidelines and regulatory standards for research including biosafety, responsible conduct of research and human subjects training.

Approximately 100% of the postdoctoral scholar’s time will be devoted to the project activities described above and related scientific research.

Applicants should apply via the ECU Career Portal - Search for position number: PDS-DCS-08-23

Direct link to job posting - https://ecu.peopleadmin.com/postings/65310

The location of the position is flexible, and the successful candidate can be based either at ECU’s Coastal campus in the Coastal Studies Institute, on Roanoke Island, North Carolina, or at ECU’s Greenville Campus. The position will require travel between the two ECU campuses and twice yearly to Washington D.C.

East Carolina University is a public research university in North Carolina. Existing faculty in the Department of Coastal Studies have expertise in Geography, Ecology, Coastal Engineering, Geology, Physical Oceanography, Anthropology, and Fisheries Ecology. The Coastal Studies Institute is a growing inter-institutional research and education enterprise. CSI has active collaborations with North Carolina Aquariums, the National Park Service, UNC Sea Grant College Program, and several institutions across the University of North Carolina system. These relationships provide opportunities to leverage established nearshore data resources, a real-time coastal processes numerical modeling framework, and data management and dissemination infrastructure.

East Carolina University is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action University and accommodates individuals with disabilities. Proper documentation of identity and employability is required at the time of employment.