Postdoctoral Scholar in Watershed science, climate science, data science, artificial intelligence and/or hydro-economics (Multiple Hires)

We are looking for multiple postdoctoral scholars in the fields of watershed science, climate science, data science, artificial intelligence and/or hydro-economics. The broad focus of the positions will be in the analysis of water resources management, agriculture, technology, and climate change in the western US. With a specific effort on California, but also collaborative studies with researchers at Washington State University, Oregon State University, Utah State University, and New Mexico State University. The positions are part of multiple funded research projects, including a recently commissioned California Drought Impacts study, the California’s 5th Climate Assessment, the UC California Climate Action Seed Grants, USDA NIFA SAS Securing a Climate Resilient Water Future for Agriculture and Ecosystems through Innovation in Measurement, Management, and Markets (SecureWaterFuture.net), and the USDA NIFA AI Institute for Transforming Workforce and Decision Support (AgAID.org). As such, the successful candidates will work with a diverse team of leading scientists at UC Merced, and their collaborators in California (UC Berkeley, UC Davis, UCLA, UC Agriculture & Natural Resources, Public Policy Institute of California, and Environmental Defense Fund), Utah State University, New Mexico State University, New Mexico Water Resources Research Institute, and Washington State University, as well as the regional USDA Southwest Climate Hub. The successful candidates will develop decision-making support tools to inform a climate resilient water future for agriculture and ecosystems through prediction, optimization, and data-enabled decision support. The postdoctoral scholars will be expected to lead the development of analytical methods and decision support platform development in collaboration with an interdisciplinary team of researchers. The postdoctoral scholars are expected to participate in collaborative science with project partners, to play an important role in mentoring undergraduate and graduate students, and to undertake professional development activities in consultation with the PIs to further their own training and career advancement. Some supervision may be required, as the scholars will coordinate Student Assistants and junior staff as needed. Limited travel will be required to visit collaborating organizations and to team meetings. Best practices in data and code management, as well as in team science, are expected. Familiarity and expertise in open-source approaches, application programming interfaces, code repositories, and reproducible documentation is also expected.