The Glaciology Group at the University of Washington seeks a Postdoctoral Scholar who will work with the Center for Oldest Ice Exploration (COLDEX), a National Science Foundation (NSF) funded Science and Technology Center that was initiated in 2021. COLDEX is a large-scale collaboration where the scientific goal is to discover, and to eventually recover, the oldest ice records on Earth, going back more than 1 million years. As part of COLDEX, numerous University of Washington researchers are investigating potential drilling sites, modeling ice flow to find a location where the oldest ice-core climate record is preserved in East Antarctica, applying new radar techniques for the first time on a large scale, developing new in-situ measurement capabilities, and developing novel methods for analyzing ice that is recovered. 

The Postdoctoral Scholar will engage in collaborative research to understand the ice-flow history and ice-flow dynamics of candidate ice-core drilling locations. This will include adapting or developing numerical ice-flow models that will be constrained by new geophysical data and available in-situ data. Data sets may include airborne and ground-based radar, phase-sensitive radar (ApRES), Global Positioning System (GPS), as well as in-situ logging to recover optical stratigraphy and near-basal temperature. Models will provide constraints on the age of the ice as a function of depth, near-basal temperature, ice-flow paths, and layer continuity, with a goal to characterize the potential of chosen target sites to preserve a continuous record of at least 1.5 million year old ice. Models will vary in complexity depending on what constraint they are providing. This new modeling is an integral contribution to the high-impact goal of recovering the oldest ice-core records.

In addition to the science goals, COLDEX is founded on broadening participation in the field of earth science and aims to train a diverse group of students and postdocs who are excited by the science questions and who can join our scientific community to continue in this work. The Postdoctoral Scholar will engage with Center partners through monthly seminars, monthly group meetings, an annual meeting, and be able to join a multi-institution early-career network that includes training and early-career events. The Postdoctoral Scholar will have opportunities to mentor graduate and undergraduate students. The Postdoctoral Scholar will also have the opportunity to interact and collaborate with a vibrant group of students, faculty, and other postdoctoral scholars across our glaciology group and department. Field work is not required, but there are opportunities to conduct field work in Antarctica.

This is a full time appointment. The successful candidate will receive a salary commensurate with research experience, but not less than $66,000 in the first year or as mandated by a U.S. Department of Labor prevailing wage determination. They will receive support for computing, travel to conferences, publications, and have opportunities for fieldwork in Antarctica. Initial appointments will be made for 12 months, renewable after that time. 

The University of Washington is located in Seattle, WA. Seattle is a culturally diverse city with active arts, music, sports, and food scenes, access to ocean and mountain adventures at your doorstep, and is a hub for private technology companies.

Postdoctoral scholars are represented by UAW 4121 and are subject to the collective bargaining agreement, unless agreed exclusion criteria apply. For more information, please visit the University of Washington Labor Relations website at https://hr.uw.edu/labor/.

The successful candidate has experience in numerical ice-flow modeling, and is prepared to adapt or develop codes (including open-source codes) to understand ice-flow history and ice-flow dynamics of chosen sites in East Antarctica. Ideally the candidate has assimilated geophysical data as boundary conditions, initial conditions, or constraints in ice-flow models, for example this may include surface and bed topography, internal layers, horizontal and vertical velocities, and/or ice temperature. This work will be carried out in an Open Science environment that prioritizes open source software and workflow reproducibility in a version-controlled setting. All codes, notebooks, and outputs will be made public.

A PhD, or foreign equivalent, with specialization in glaciology, geophysics, applied math, or other computational sciences, is required. Candidates must have a demonstrated track record in scientific computing.

University of Washington postdoctoral scholar appointments are for a temporary, defined period not to exceed five years/60 months, including any previous postdoctoral experience.

The position remains open until filled. Applicants will be asked to provide a current CV with links to any open code repositories (e.g., Github or Zenodo), a maximum one-page research statement, and two representative publications. Review of the applications will start immediately.

For questions about potential disability accommodation during the application process, please contact the UW's Disability Services Office at 206-543-6450, or 206-543-6452 (TTY), or dso@uw.edu.