Postdoctoral Fellow, Partin

Job Posting Title:

Postdoctoral Fellow, Partin

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Hiring Department:

Institute for Geophysics

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Position Open To:

All Applicants

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Weekly Scheduled Hours:

40

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FLSA Status:

Exempt

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Earliest Start Date:

Immediately

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Position Duration:

Expected to Continue Until Aug 31, 2026

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Location:

PICKLE RESEARCH CAMPUS

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Job Details:

JOB DETAILS:

The Institute for Geophysics at The University of Texas at Austin (UTIG) invites applications for a research fellow position to study tropical paleoclimate using corals and cave speleothems, as well as climate simulations. UTIG is one of the three research units of the Jackson School of Geosciences at the University of Texas at Austin. Scientists and students at UTIG conduct expeditionary research in Earth Science in all parts of the world and are also involved in planetary missions and climate modeling. These research projects produce large data sets and require computational analysis and visualization. This position is for one year with the potential to be a second year pending performance and funding.

Your skills will make a difference. 

You will be working for a university that is internationally recognized for our academic programs and research. You will be part of an international effort at the forefront of advancing the energy transition. You will be part of a vibrant university experience that interweaves students, engineering and support staff and senior scientists. You will be part of a team, launching young people on their careers and advancing fundamental and applied science. UT Austin provides an outstanding benefits package including: 

• Competitive health benefits (employee premiums covered at 100%) 

• ​Voluntary Vision, Dental, Life, and Disability insurance options 

• Generous paid vacation, sick time, and holidays 

• Hybrid work schedule

• Teachers Retirement System of Texas, a defined benefit retirement plan, with 7.75% employer matching funds 

• Additional Voluntary Retirement Programs: Tax Sheltered Annuity 403(b) and a Deferred Compensation program 457(b) 

• Flexible spending account options for medical and childcare expenses 

• Robust free training access through LinkedIn Learning plus professional conference opportunities 

• Tuition assistance 

• Expansive employee discount program including athletic tickets 

• Free access to UT Austin's libraries and museums with staff ID card 

• Free rides on all UT Shuttle and Austin CapMetro buses with staff ID card 

For more details, please see: https://hr.utexas.edu/prospective/benefits and https://hr.utexas.edu/current/services/my-total-rewards

PURPOSE

The candidate will be part of a research team, led by Associate Research Prof. Jud Partin, that is engaged in cutting edge research using corals and cave speleothems to study changes in interannual climate variability associated with the El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and changes in decadal climate variability associated with Tropical Pacific Decadal Variability (TPDV) due to changes in external forcings from glacial times to the future. The candidate will measure geochemical changes in fossil corals from Vanuatu in the southwest tropical Pacific to reconstruct changes in ENSO and in speleothems from sites across the western tropical Pacific to reconstruct changes in TPDV. Additionally, we will compare the paleoclimate records to timeslices of climate model output and employ proxy system models to strengthen the comparison between climate models and proxy data.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• The research fellow will be engaged in the construction of paleoclimate proxy timeseries, the analysis of the timeseries, and comparisons of the timeseries with climate model output.

• Present results to the scientific community and broader public.

• Publish results in peer-reviewed journals.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

Ph.D. acquired within the last three years in Earth Sciences, Geochemistry, Chemistry, Climate Dynamics, or a relate