Postdoctoral Scholar in Remote Sensing of Inland and Coastal Water Quality

The Valley Institute for Sustainability, Technology, and Agriculture (VISTA) is seeking an Industry Partnerships Coordinator to support VISTA, the Farms-Food-Future Innovation Initiative (F3) and regional testbeds. This role is central in facilitating research partnerships (i.e. events, field trials, projects, hackathons, etc.) between UC Merced and agricultural and technology industry partners, the ag community regionally and others. This is an excellent opportunity to work in the development of external relationships and to engage in industry-university partnerships at the cutting edge of engineering, computer and data science, technology, natural resources management, food systems and climate smart innovation. As a new organization building a new facility and serving this region, the successful applicant would have the opportunity to develop relationships, from student projects to multi-year grants.

We seek a highly motivated and innovative postdoctoral scholar to lead research on assessing the status and trends of inland and coastal water quality in California. This research integrates multi-platform remote sensing with in-situ datasets to establish baselines, evaluate trends, and analyze anomalies in water quality responses to environmental perturbations, including prolonged droughts, floods, and wildfires and to support forecast modeling and scenario development for climate change and water allocation. The successful candidate will leverage existing water quality algorithms and products (e.g., temperature, turbidity, chlorophyll-a) while developing novel methodologies to advance research on short- and long-term water quality conditions. Approaches may include AI/ML techniques and biophysical modeling. This work aims to address critical challenges faced by federal, state, and local water resource agencies, with applications extending to coastal ecological conditions.

The position supports interdisciplinary projects funded by NASA, the State of California, and Australia's CSIRO. The scholar will collaborate with a diverse network of researchers, engineers, and stakeholders, including Caltech, UCLA, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, UC Davis, UC Santa Cruz, UC Berkeley, NOAA, USGS, California Department of Water Resources, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, and others. Qualified candidates may also be eligible for dual affiliation with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Key responsibilities include:

* Conducting cutting-edge research on water quality assessment.

* Publishing high-impact research articles in collaboration with the principal investigator (PI).

* Engaging with project partners for collaborative science.

* Mentoring undergraduate and graduate students.

* Supervising student assistants and junior staff as needed.

* Participating in professional development activities for career advancement.

* Ensuring best practices in data and code management, including open-source workflows, version control (e.g., Git), and reproducible documentation.

* Developing high-quality data visualizations and scholarly content.

Limited travel may be required to attend meetings and collaborate with project teams.

* A Ph.D. in a relevant field (e.g., physical sciences, environmental science, computer science, or engineering) at the time of appointment.

* Strong collaborative skills and a demonstrated record of scholarly contributions, including 1-2 first-author, peer-reviewed publications.

* Advanced proficiency in programming for applied statistics, modeling, and data science (e.g., Python, R, MATLAB).

* Experience with version control systems (e.g., Git) and the ability to create publication-ready visualizations.

* Excellent writing skills for academic publications.

* Expertise in remote sensing applications to aquatic biogeochemistry, ocean color, or optical water quality.

* Proficiency with cloud computing and high-performance computing platforms.

* Familiarity with interdisciplinary collaborations involving stakeholders and policymakers.

• 3 required (contact information only)

The University of California, Merced, is the newest of the University of California system's 10 campuses. With over 9,000 undergraduate and graduate students (https://cie.ucmerced.edu/analytics-hub/student-statistics), UC Merced is committed to interdisciplinary excellence in research and teaching as well as to diversity, equity and inclusion. Ranked as one of the best public universities in the nation by U.S. News and World Report, UC Merced provides outstanding educational opportunities to highly qualified students from the heart of California, the nation, and abroad. The campus has special connections to nearby Yosemite National Park; is on the cutting edge of sustainability in construction and design; and supports the economic development of Central California. The Merced 2020 Project doubled the physical capacity of the campus, and enhanced academic distinction, student success, and research excellence (https://merced2020.ucmerced.edu/).

The University of California, Merced is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer advancing inclusive excellence. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, age, protected veteran status, or other protected categories covered by the UC nondiscrimination policy.

Please refer to the University of California's Affirmative Action Policy and the University of California's Anti-Discrimination Policy.

As a University employee, you will be required to comply with all applicable University policies and/or collective bargaining agreements, as may be amended from time to time. Federal, state, or local government directives may impose additional requirements. This includes the University of California Policy on Vaccination Programs: https://policy.ucop.edu/doc/5000695/VaccinationProgramsPolicy.