Research Associate / Post-Doctoral Fellow

Te Kura Aronukurangi | School of Earth and Environment
Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha | University of Canterbury
Located in Ōtautahi | Christchurch, Aotearoa | New Zealand

• Come join UC, a world-class research institute
• Full-time at 37.5 hours per week (1.0 FTE)
• Fixed-term position (3 years)
• Starting late 2023
• Starting salary of NZ$80k

Āu Mahi | What You Will Do
UC's School of Earth and Environment has an opportunity for a Postdoctoral Fellow to play a key role in the development of a probabilistic coseismic coastal deformation model for Aotearoa New Zealand. There are numerous examples of earthquakes in Aotearoa NZ and worldwide that have caused metre-scale coseismic subsidence or uplift of coastal areas. There is a high chance that during the next century there will be one or more MW > 7.0 earthquakes that affect the coastline of Aotearoa NZ. Such earthquakes have the potential to mitigate or (crucially) exacerbate the effects of climate-driven sea-level rise. To allow coastal communities to plan for the impacts of future earthquakes, it is essential to constrain probabilities of earthquake occurrence and the likely magnitude of deformation as far as possible. The importance of this work is therefore clear, but implementing it will be both challenging and rewarding — Aotearoa NZ is home to two subduction zones as well as ~900 crustal faults, many with rapid (>5 mm/yr) slip rates.

This project will be a key part of the vertical land movements (VLMs) research aim of the MBIE Endeavour programme "Te Ao Hurihuri, Te Ao Hou: Our Changing Coast", a successor to the NZ SeaRise programme (https://www.searise.nz/ ). We will make use of earthquake ruptures and probabilities from the state-of-the-art, recently released NZ National Seismic Hazard Model (https://nshm.gns.cri.nz/ ). These ruptures and probabilities will be combined with modelling of earthquake surface displacements and a careful treatment of uncertainties to create a probabilistic coastal deformation model. Depending on the research interests of the successful candidate, there will also be opportunities to: (1) use physics-based earthquake simulators to understand the impacts of possible future combined ruptures of the Hikurangi subduction interface with upper-plate faults; (2) model likely postseismic deformation and its effects; (3) constrain present-day vertical land movements using geodetic data; and (4) integrate results with projections of sea-level rise and interseismic VLMs to build combined models of relative sea-level change for Aotearoa NZ.

Mōu | Who You Are
To be successful in this position you will ideally have the following:

• a PhD in geophysics/geodesy, earthquake geology, coastal hazards or another related discipline or Masters degree for the Research Associate role.
• strong analytical/modelling skills using python or another programming language.
• a research background in earthquake-related hazard science, ideally including statistics and/or probabilistic seismic hazard analysis.
• a strong publication track record (relative to experience level) as well as experience with preparation and delivery of quality oral presentations to a wide range of audiences.

Mahi Ngātahi | Who You Will Work With
This postdoc is funded by the MBIE Endeavour programme "Te Ao Hurihuri, Te Ao Hou: Our Changing Coast". The successful applicant will play a key role in the vertical land movements research aim of the programme, which will involve working closely with Andy Howell at UC and several scientists at Te Pū Ao| GNS Science in Lower Hutt. The project lies at the intersection of several disciplines and will include collaborations with seismic hazard scientists (Chris Rollins and Matt Gerstenberger), coastal earthquake geologists (Kate Clark and Nicola Litchfield) and geodesists (Ian Hamling and Sigrún Hreinsdóttir).

There will also be an opportunity to participate in a "postdoc exchange" to collaborate with researchers working on a similar model for Cascadia at the University of Washington, USA.

Ngā Painga o UC | Why UC
Tangata Tū, Tangata Ora - Engaged, Empowered, Making a Difference.

The University of Canterbury is committed to accessible higher education, service to community and the encouragement of talent without barriers of distance, wealth, class, gender or ethnicity. The University explicitly aims to produce graduates and support staff who are engaged with their communities, empowered to act for good and determined to make a difference in the world.

We offer a range of excellent benefits, for more information, please visit us: https://www.canterbury.ac.nz/joinus/benefits/

For more information about Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha | University of Canterbury, please visit www.canterbury.ac.nz

 

The closing date for this position is: Sunday, 18 June 2023 (midnight, NZ time)
Applications will be reviewed after the close date.

Pēhea te tono mai | How You Apply
Applications for this position must be submitted on our careers website and should include a cover letter and resume. Please note, we do not accept applications by email, however we are happy to answer your queries in relation to the application process, please forward these to [email protected]

For further information specifically about the role, please contact: Dr Andy Howell ([email protected]).

For overseas applicants, please visit Immigration New Zealand website or the New Zealand Government's official Covid-19 website, to review the latest health and visa requirements for visiting and working in New Zealand.

 

Job Details

Reference #	15269
Posted on	08 May 2023
Closes on	18 Jun 2023 23:55
Location(s)	Christchurch
Expertise	Research & Development
Job level(s)	Experienced
Work type(s)	Fixed term full-time
More details (document)	Research Associate_Postdoctoral Fellow PDs.pdf
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