CIRES/NOAA NCEI Research Scientist – Geomagnetic Field Modeling

at  University of Colorado Boulder

Requisition Number:
60400
Location:
Boulder, Colorado
City
Boulder
State
Colorado
Employment Type:
Research Faculty
Schedule:
Full-Time
Posting Close Date:
18-Dec-2024
Date Posted:
18-Nov-2024

JOB SUMMARY

The Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) at the University of Colorado Boulder conducts collaborative research with NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI). CIRES has an immediate opening for a Geomagnetic Research Scientist. The successful applicant will be responsible for a range of research duties related to the development of new global models of the Earth’s magnetic field, which are used by government, industry, academia, and the public. Research will include developing new processing methods and geomagnetic field models using data provided by innovative CubeSats currently being developed for the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA)-sponsored MagQuest competition. Ideal candidates should have research experience in computational geophysics, geophysical inversion, or data science. The ability to collaborate effectively within a team of research scientists, software developers, and data managers is essential.
This CIRES position is based at the David Skaggs Research Center in Boulder, Colorado, and offers a hybrid work option.
The University of Colorado Boulder is committed to building a culturally diverse community of faculty, staff, and students dedicated to contributing to an inclusive campus environment. We are an Equal Opportunity employer, including veterans and individuals with disabilities.

WHO WE ARE

At CIRES, more than 950 environmental science professionals work to understand the dynamic Earth system, including people’s relationship with the planet. CIRES has partnered with NOAA since 1967, and our areas of expertise include weather and climate, changes at Earth’s poles, air quality and atmospheric chemistry, water resources, solid Earth sciences, and more. Our vision is to be instrumental in ensuring a sustainable future environment by advancing scientific and societal understanding of the Earth system.
NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) is responsible for hosting and providing access to one of the most significant archives on Earth, with comprehensive oceanic, atmospheric, and geophysical data. From the depths of the ocean to the surface of the sun and from million-year-old sediment records to near real-time satellite images, NCEI is the Nation’s leading authority for environmental information.
The CIRES/NCEI geomagnetism team conducts basic and applied research in the field of Earth magnetism. We develop data-based models and calculators of the various magnetic fields originating within the Earth (in the core, mantle, lithosphere and oceans) and in the near-Earth space environment (in the ionized layers of the atmosphere and the magnetosphere). Such models have a wide range of scientific and technical uses, from investigating physical processes associated with a particular source, for example core flows, to providing accurate headings for aircraft navigation and directional drilling. The group is based out of NOAA’s Boulder campus and is primarily funded by the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) through an agreement with the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA).

WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW

• This position will be rostered in CIRES at the University of Colorado Boulder, but will be physically situated in the David Skaggs Research Center, 325 Broadway, Boulder, CO 80305.
• If you are the selected finalist, you will be required to successfully complete a federal background clearance process for site access.
• Non-US citizens without green cards may have limited building access and require an escort in the building.

• Develop new processing and inversion algorithms to derive mathematical models of the Earth’s magnetic field and its various sources from satellite (including CubeSats) and ground-based data (40%).
• Contribute to the development, testing, and validation of high-profile geomagnetic field models, such as the World Magnetic Model (WMM), Enhanced Magnetic Model (EMM) and High-Definition Geomagnetic Model (HDGM) (15%).
• Collaborate with software developers to transition research-grade scientific software into a production environment, resulting in cutting-edge geomagnetic field models (15%).
• Identify key research questions in the field of geomagnetism, develop a research plan, and analyze scientific data to address them (15%).
• Publish findings in peer-reviewed journals (10%).
• Pursue funding opportunities for geomagnetic field modeling research (e.g., NASA, NSF, etc.) (5%).