[ES_JOBS_NET] USGS Mendenhall Postdoctoral Fellow opportunity in post-wildfire hydrology and water quality

[Ebel, Brian A]

Post-doctoral opportunity in the US Geological Survey in post-wildfire hydrology and water quality:
https://www.usgs.gov/centers/mendenhall/19-42-wildfire-impacts-water-availability-upper-colorado-basin
USGS Mendenhall Research Fellowship Program

How to apply:
https://www.usgs.gov/centers/mendenhall/when-and-how-apply
Application link:
https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/582067300
Closing Date: January 4, 2021
Proposed Duty Station: Lakewood, CO

Wildfire impacts on water availability in the Upper Colorado Basin
Wildfire can change nearly all aspects of the hydrologic cycle, including interception, transpiration, snow accumulation and ablation, infiltration, groundwater recharge, erosion, contaminant entrainment, and stream temperature. In addition to these shifts in hydrologic states and fluxes, wildfire introduces changes in surface and subsurface parameters required for adequate representation in integrated hydrologic models. Yet, many of these relationships are neither fully understood nor systematically implemented in hydrologic modeling schemes. The duration of these hydrologic shifts and associated model parameterization problems are poorly characterized. Water-quality degradation may depend on tree species, fire severity, ash loading, soil thickness, soil textural classification, soil depth to bedrock, presence of historical mining activities, land use, and river corridor effects such as hyporheic exchange. Studies proposed under the Mendenhall postdoc opportunity may have field, laboratory, remote sensing, and/or numerical modeling components. The research is anticipated to use a framework of smaller-scale research integrated with basin-scale analysis and modeling to improve basin-to-regional scale assessments of fire-driven shifts in water quality and quantity affecting water availability. A successful proposal will build on ongoing USGS post-wildfire research and will be evaluated for scientific originality and innovation. The geographic focus of research will be in the Upper Colorado/Gunnison basin and similar, adjacent basins. However, we anticipate that research methodologies will be extensible to other basins in the western U.S.


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