Mathematical Modeling for Ecology and Epidemiology Postdoctoral Researcher

What You Will Do

Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) is a multidisciplinary research institution engaged in science and engineering on behalf of national security. You will work with the Information Systems and Modeling, Theoretical Biology and Biophysics, and/or the Earth and Environmental Sciences groups, and will be primarily engaged with the Data Analytics and Model-Data Fusion for Infectious Disease Forecasting teams. Team members will support and enrich your research and professional goals through their outstanding breadth and depth of expertise in their respective fields. Our vibrant team of researchers is diverse across many spectrums and we welcome people who are excited to work with an amazing team to help solve problems impacting our country and the world. The overarching goal of our research is to develop a continental-scale model in the Americas for mosquito-borne diseases incorporating climate, weather, human demographics, and insect/animal data systems with the goal of projecting risk and mitigations under climate change scenarios.

We anticipate multiple hires, so postdocs will be able to choose from among the topics below. Research efforts associated with this position include:

• Fusing various geospatial, human, and ins ect/animaldatasets to be used to predict and inform mosquito-borne disease models (and potentially other climate-driven diseases)

• Using statistical and mathematical modeling techniques to work on disease transmission and mosquito/vector species population dynamics models with an eye for integrating ecological and human systems

• Supporting integration of these multi-scale models (in collaboration with the whole team)

• Calibrate and validate models using sensitivity analysis, uncertainty quantification, and inference methods

You will work with a multi-disciplinary team of mathematicians, statisticians, biologists, ecologists, ecosystem and earth systems modelers, hydrologists, and computer scientists in effort to develop a continental-scale model of mosquito-borne disease in the Americas incorporating climate and human-ecological systems. Depending on your interests, your research could include components of remote sensing, machine learning, data fusion, software development, differential equation and process-based models, statistical models, and uncertainty quantification. You will have access to ample high-performance computing resources. A self-motivated, creative postdoc will find this environment conducive to intellectual and professional growth. A comprehensive knowledge of the novel components of the research activities will not be necessary as on-the-job training will support your success through a collaborative team atmosphere. Our team supports and is looking for candidates who are diverse from multiple perspectives.

What You Need

We seek applications from candidates with experience in any of the following research areas: mathematics, statistics, ecological modeling, epidemiological modeling, computer science, or closely related fields.

Minimum Job Requirements:

• An ability to work and communicate effectively in a diverse team environment

• Experience with mathematical/statistical modeling

• Proficiency in a programming language

• A PhD earned no more than five years ago in a related field

Desired Qualifications:

• experience with Python and R

• publications in refereed journals and a history of successful research in collaborative team environments

• experience developing multi-scale models and/or in uncertainty quantification and data fitting

• exposure to population dynamics or epidemiology modeling

• familiarity working with “big” datasets

Note to Applicants:

Send a curriculum vitae including names and contact information of three references, a cover letter detailing qualifications and research interests, and your earliest start date to Carrie Manore at [email protected]. Please entitle the subject line “Climate-Disease Modeling Postdoc.” Applications will be reviewed as received, and we hope to fill the positions as soon as possible. Additional questions may be included in your email. Be sure to also officially apply via the link on this page.

Candidates may be considered for a Director’s Fellowship and outstanding candidates may be considered for the prestigious Marie Curie, Richard P. Feynman, or J. Robert Oppenheimer fellowships. For general information related to the Postdoc Program, salary, and benefits, go to: http://www.lanl.gov/careers/career-options/postdoctoral-research/index.php . Salary ranges can be found at https://www.lanl.gov/careers/career-options/postdoctoral-research/postdoc-program/postdoc-salary-guidelines.php .

The position will ultimately require relocation to the Los Alamos/Santa Fe area. Los Alamos and Santa Fe offer a unique blend of cultural, outdoor, and historical activities. See https://livability.com/nm/los-alamos/experiences-adventures/8-reasons-to-move-to-los-alamos-nm and https://www.lanl.gov/community/visitors/living-in-los-alamos.php for more info.