Overview. The University of Maryland’s (UMD’s) Center for Global Sustainability (CGS) is seeking a postdoctoral research associate to contribute to reanalysis and uncertainty analysis of the global hydrologic cycle. Led by Dr. Thomas B. Wild and Dr. Kamal Chowdhury, the postdoc will join a dynamic UMD-CGS team focused broadly on discovering how humans have shaped the global water cycle through the operation of hydraulic infrastructure, and characterizing the uncertainty in those human influences and its propagation. Possible research topics for the postdoc include: (1) Using Machine Learning (ML) methods to analyze the historical operation of global groundwater well infrastructure and integrating the outputs into a global hydrological model; (2) Estimating historical global patterns in surface water withdrawals from emerging sectors such as data centers and critical minerals and materials; (3) Developing ML-based stochastic resampling methods to bound uncertainty in reanalysis time series and analyze how it propagates across systems and scales.
The researcher will join a dynamic team at UMD-CGS that is tackling a diverse range of global sustainability challenges, and will collaborate closely across the project’s partner institutions to ensure tight integration across models and datasets.
Qualifications. Applicants should hold (or expect to hold soon) a PhD in civil/environmental engineering, hydrology, environmental science, or a related discipline. Desired qualifications also include:
- Technical experience: running, developing, and analyzing outputs from large scale hydrological models. Experience with groundwater specifically is highly desirable.
- Computational: programming (python, julia, fortran, c++), HPC, large data management.
- Methodological: machine learning, uncertainty and sensitivity analysis, statistics
- Communication and teamwork: successful candidates are expected to be highly motivated, have strong written and oral communication skills, and work effectively as part of a large interdisciplinary team.
Responsibilities. The postdoc will be responsible for producing models, data products, and publications focused on global groundwater extraction, while also contributing to the UMD-CGS team’s efforts in other areas, including emerging sources of water use and uncertainty analysis. In addition, the postdoc will coordinate effectively with researchers at the project’s other institutions (e.g., to integrate data on human water uses into a global hydrological model). The postdoc will be expected to follow best practices in data and software management. Finally, the postdoc will be expected to communicate findings effectively at various workshops and conferences.
Terms of Appointment. The successful candidate will be offered a Postdoctoral Research Associate position for 2 years, with possibility of extension based on performance. The hiring rate of pay for the successful candidate will be determined considering a variety of criteria, including prior relevant work, qualifications, and unique applicable skills.
Application procedure. Applicants are to submit a cover letter; a detailed curriculum vitae that includes a list of publications, datasets, and/or model development activities; and the names and contact information for at least three references. The successful applicant’s anticipated hire date is March-June 2026. Review of applications will begin immediately and will continue until the position is filled. Questions can be directed to Dr. Thomas B. Wild.
