at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Springfield, Illinois, United States
Job Description
Overview
PNNL’s Earth System Science Division enables energy independence and national security through leadership in earth systems science, engineering, and decision analytics. Our work focuses on solving complex problems in the dynamic Earth system. Our interdisciplinary scientists steward a breadth of efforts that encompass research on plants to groundwater science and coastal zones, to storm prediction.
Our research focuses on understanding and mitigating operational risks at the interface of human and natural environments. This includes predicting the impacts of natural hazards and extreme climate events on Earth and human systems, along with the impacts of wildfire, flooding, sea level rise and storm surges. We focus on understanding and mitigating environmental contamination and increasing the resiliency, security and sustainability of water resources. We provide geointelligence through advanced sensing and data analytics to forecast complex system behaviors and operational performance to understand human-natural systems. This includes informed decision making and enhanced community resilience, advanced monitoring, and remote sensing of environmental systems for energy and national security. It also includes developing energy systems, including geothermal energy, sustainable oil and gas production, storage and utilization, along with carbon sequestration.
Driven by a “science-to-solutions” philosophy, we provide scientific leadership and technology to enhance national security, mitigate natural hazards and optimize disaster response. In the critical areas of energy, environment, intelligence, and defense, we deliver insights and decision support through the development of tools and solutions.
Responsibilities
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) is a world-class research institution powered by a highly educated, diverse workforce committed to collaboration and work-life balance. Every year, scores of dynamic, driven interns come to PNNL to work with renowned researchers on meaningful science, innovations and outcomes for the U.S. Department of Energy and other sponsors; here is your chance to be one of them!
The successful candidate will work with a diverse team of scientists on problems related to environmental management, with a specific focus on simulating reactive biogeochemical transport processes in the subsurface environment. The preferred candidate will have familiarity in the fields of water chemistry, geochemistry, numerical methods for subsurface simulation and high performance; demonstrated capability to publish in peer reviewed journals; and excellent verbal communication skills. The position has the option of remote working with occasional travel to PNNL.
The successful candidate will join other postdocs and graduate fellows as part of the Minority Serving Institutions Partnership Program (MSIPP). MSIPP is funded by the Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management (DOE-EM). DOE-EM is working to cleanup legacy radioactive waste found in soil, groundwater, and underground storage tanks. All research aligns with DOE-EM’s mission to safely immobilize and cleanup environmental legacy waste, focusing on cleanup of the Hanford Site which is one of the most complex DOE sites due to hazardous comingled contaminates. For more information, go to https://www.pnnl.gov/environmental-management-internship .
Contribute to PNNL’s goals as part of the Lab’s Energy and Environment Directorate. With support from the Department of Energy, PNNL is exploring complex chemical phenomena to enable innovations in retrieving and processing radioactive tank waste stored at the Hanford site. In the Interfacial Dynamics in Radioactive Environments and Materials (IDREAM) Energy Frontier Research Center (EFRC), supported by Basic Energy Sciences, we work on the fundamental chemistry in complex environments characterized by extremes in alkalinity, low-water activity, and chemical phenomena driven far from equilibrium by ionizing radiation, all of which are characteristics of legacy radioactive tank waste. We then work with Environmental Management and the Hanford site contractors to apply this fundamental knowledge for accelerating the processing of legacy radioactive waste that is currently stored in underground tanks.
Central to this work is characterizing solution structure and precipitation/dissolution reactions in these concentrated multicomponent systems. Reactivity can be impacted by the formation of multi-length scale solution structures, and by exposure to ionizing radiation which results in the formation of new reactive species. The team is investigating these phenomena across length scales and timescales utilizing a variety of experimental techniques available at PNNL, including vibrational spectroscopies, X-ray diffraction, and optical microscopy, among others, while taking advantage of world-class expertise and capabilities. You will also have the opportunity to perform research at scientific user facilities, utilizing techniques such as small angle X-ray scattering, X-ray absorption spectroscopy, etc. You will design and conduct experiments, and lead manuscript development.
As a post-doctoral researcher at PNNL, you will become an integral member of an interdisciplinary team working on the complex chemistry that underpins the efficient processing of radioactive tank waste. Through IDREAM, you will also become part of our highly motivated Early Career Network to assist you in your career development and scientific skills, and you be mentored by our staff scientists.
The Ideal Candidate: If you are ready to test your talents and training in contributing to the cleanup of the Department of Energy’s largest legacy nuclear site, we want to connect with you. We encourage all qualified applicants to apply; you do not need to meet all the Preferred Qualifications to be considered.
All projects involving lab work will be located in Richland, WA. Projects focused on computer science or modeling may have remote opportunities.
To qualify you must have attended a Minority Serving Institution (MSI). MSIs are institutions of higher education enrolling populations with significant percentages of undergraduate minority students. Don’t know if your school qualifies? Ask us! Please email em.internships@pnnl.gov to find out more.
HOW TO APPLY******
Upload Resume or CV in “Resume” section only (note: If applying to multiple positions, the most recent resume uploaded will be used for all positions an applicant applies to).
Electronic applications will be accepted until 5:00 p.m. (PST) on the posting close date.
Qualifications
Minimum Qualifications:
+ Candidates must have received a PhD within the past five years (60 months) or within the next 8 months from an accredited college or university.
Preferred Qualifications:
+ To qualify for this MSIPP position the candidate must have graduated from a minority serving institution (MSI) for either an undergraduate or graduate degree.
+ Experience with geochemistry or geochemical transport modeling software (e.g., CrunchFlow, Geochemist’s Workbench, MINTEQA2, PFLOTRAN, PHREEQC, TOUGHREACT, etc.)
+ Experience simulating subsurface Earth system processes (e.g., groundwater flow, solute transport, biogeochemical reaction)
+ Experience with Linux-based operating systems
+ Experience with Python scripting and visualization software
+ Experience with state of the art numerical methods
+ Experience programming in modern Fortran or C/C++ Experience simulating multiphase flow, heat transfer and/or reactive transport
+ Experience with high performance computing
+ Demonstrated proficiency with verbal and written communications
Hazardous Working Conditions/Environment
Not Applicable.
Additional Information
Not Applicable.
About PNNL
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNN
