Senior Researcher (PREP0002732)

Requisition #: A-151731-26

Status: Full Time

Type: Faculty

School: Whiting School of Engineering

Department/Program: Commercial and Government Programs Office

Salary: $86.00/HR-$124.00/HR

Location City: Gaithersburg

Location State: MD

Location Zip Code: 20899

Closing Date: Open until filled

To apply: apply.interfolio.com/151731

General Description

Climate & Community Resilience Planning PREP Research Associate

This position is part of the National Institute of Standards (NIST) Professional Research Experience (PREP) program. NIST recognizes that its research staff may wish to collaborate with researchers on specific projects of mutual interest and thus requires that they be the recipients of a PREP award. The PREP program enables staff from a wide range of backgrounds to work on scientific research in many areas. Researchers become employees of universities identified as part of the PREP Program. In this position, the researcher will perform technical work that supports the scientific research of the collaboration.

A senior researcher or faculty member is sought with expertise in community resilience planning and applied climate science to support the development of a new addendum to the NIST Community Resilience Planning Guide and Playbook (https://www.nist.gov/community-resilience/planning-guide). The new addition will focus on aiding community practitioners with incorporating leading practices and methods to identify relevant climate data, scenarios, and natural hazard information to enhance the resilience of buildings, infrastructure, and communities when subjected to climate-affected hazards. The work will be informed by a series of workshops NIST organized in 2023 that focused on sea level rise (SLR) and coastal flooding, precipitation and inland flooding, and wildfires (https://doi.org/10.6028/NIST.GCR.24-056). Other climate-related hazards may also be addressed. Future climate effects may include both acute shocks and persistent stressors - some examples include air and water temperature rise, non-hurricane wind events, changes in precipitation, sea level rise, and their associated storm surge and coastal flooding.

There is an urgent need for climate projections to be incorporated into community planning so that designers, planners, and engineers can address future climate impacts on community systems and services. Currently, communities are beginning to address this issue in varying ways with available tools and knowledge, but significant advances are still needed to develop guidance on how to characterize localized future climate and natural hazard conditions, how to account for these conditions in infrastructure design, and how to improve construction practices for future climate conditions. NIST has long-standing expertise in reducing natural hazard risks and enhancing the resilience of the built environment. Through this PREP research associate appointment, NIST is continuing to develop technical capacity in applied climate sciences and natural hazard risk reduction and seeks to advance community-scale resilience through climate-informed planning with a focus on advancing the design of buildings and infrastructure systems.

The PREP researcher will work with NIST researchers to develop a new addition to the NIST Community Resilience Planning Guide and Playbook to inform communities about leading practices for incorporating future climate conditions into community resilience planning for the built environment.  The researcher will identify leading practices for incorporating climate considerations in community resilience planning, which will be informed by 2023 NIST workshops, as well as identifying other sources and methods for determining appropriate sources of climate projections and their application to community planning. The primary focus of the PREP researcher will be to identify actionable methods for incorporating climate information in community resilience planning, which are supported by the best available science and case studies, and integrate them into the NIST Community Resilience Planning Guide and Playbook. 

Key responsibilities will include, but are not limited to:

-         In collaboration with NIST researchers, develop a new addendum to the NIST Community Resilience Planning Guide and Playbook to inform communities about leading practices for incorporating future climate conditions into resilience planning for sea level rise, precipitation, and wildfire, and associated hazard impacts, such as flooding.

-         Identify other climate-affected natural hazards that may affect future infrastructure performance, and associated climate science and community case studies.

-         Develop materials for the addendum that describe actionable methods for community resilience planning that are supported by best available science and case studies. 

Qualifications

Qualifications

§  A master's or PhD degree in engineering, atmospheric science, or another discipline related to applied climate sciences for the built environment.

§  An excellent record of research, publications, and documented strong communication skills related to climate and community resilience planning.

§  A strong background in community decision-making, climate change, and risk assessment.

§  The ability to work both independently and as part of a larger, multi-disciplinary team to achieve project objectives, meet project deadlines and reporting requirements, and help mentor other team members.

Preferred Qualifications

-         Experience working with communities and municipal governments

-         Experience developing climate science guidance for use at a local to regional scale

Application Instructions

Please upload the following (preferably in a single PDF) with your application:

§  1-2 pg statement of interest that highlights experience and capabilities

§  Curriculum vitae

Privacy Act Statement

Authority:  15 U.S.C. § 278g-1(e)(1) and (e)(3) and 15 U.S.C. § 272(b) and (c)

Purpose:  The National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) hosts the  Professional Research Experience Program (PREP) which is designed to provide valuable laboratory experience and financial assistance to undergraduates, post-bachelor degree holders, graduate students, master degree holders, postdocs, and faculty.  

PREP is a 5-year cooperative agreement between NIST laboratories and participating PREP Universities to establish a collaborative research relationship between NIST and U.S. institutions of higher education in the following disciplines including (but may not be limited to) biochemistry, biological sciences, chemistry, computer science, engineering, electronics, materials science, mathematics, nanoscale science, neutron science, physical science, physics, and statistics. This collection of information is needed to facilitate the administrative functions of the PREP Program.

Routine Uses:  NIST will use the information collected to perform the requisite reviews of the applications to determine eligibility, and to meet programmatic requirements. Disclosure of this information is also subject to all the published routine uses as identified in the Privacy Act System of Records Notices:  NIST-1: NIST Associates. 

Disclosure: Furnishing this information is voluntary. When you submit the form, you are indicating your voluntary consent for NIST to use the information you submit for the stated purpose.

Salary Range

The referenced salary range represents the minimum and maximum salaries for this position and is based on Johns Hopkins University's good faith belief at the time of posting. Not all candidates will be eligible for the upper end of the salary range. The actual compensation offered to the selected candidate may vary and will ultimately depend on multiple factors, which may include the successful candidate's geographic location, skills, work experience, internal equity, market conditions, education/training and other factors, as reasonably determined by the University.

Total Rewards

Johns Hopkins offers a total rewards package that supports our employees' health, life, career and retirement. More information can be found here: https://hr.jhu.edu/benefits-worklife/.

Equal Opportunity Employer

The Johns Hopkins University is committed to equal opportunity for its faculty, staff, and students. To that end, the university does not discriminate on the basis of sex, gender, marital status, pregnancy, race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, disability, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, veteran status or other legally protected characteristic. The university is committed to providing qualified individuals access to all academic and employment programs, benefits and activities on the basis of demonstrated ability, performance and merit without regard to personal factors that are irrelevant to the program involved.

Pre-Employment Information

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Background Checks

The successful candidate(s) for this position will be subject to a pre-employment background check including education verification.

EEO is the Law:

https://www.eeoc.gov/sites/default/files/2023-06/22-088_EEOC_KnowYourRights6.12ScreenRdr.pdf

Diversity and Inclusion

The Johns Hopkins University values diversity, equity and inclusion and advances these through our key strategic framework, the JHU Roadmap on Diversity and Inclusion.

Vaccine Requirements

Johns Hopkins University strongly encourages, but no longer requires, at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. The COVID-19 vaccine does not apply to positions located in the State of Florida. We still require all faculty, staff, and students to receive the seasonal flu vaccine. Exceptions to the COVID and flu vaccine requirements may be provided to individuals for religious beliefs or medical reasons. Requests for an exception must be submitted to the JHU vaccination registry. This change does not apply to the School of Medicine (SOM). SOM hires must be fully vaccinated with an FDA COVID-19 vaccination and provide proof of vaccination status. For additional information, applicants for SOM positions should visit https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/coronavirus/covid-19-vaccine/ and all other JHU applicants should visit https://covidinfo.jhu.edu/health-safety/covid-vaccination-information/.

The following additional provisions may apply, depending upon campus. Your recruiter will advise accordingly. The pre-employment physical for positions in clinical areas, laboratories, working with research subjects, or involving community contact requires documentation of immune status against Rubella (German measles), Rubeola (Measles), Mumps, Varicella (chickenpox), Hepatitis B and documentation of having received the Tdap (Tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis) vaccination. This may include documentation of having two (2) MMR vaccines; two (2) Varicella vaccines; or antibody status to these diseases from laboratory testing. Blood tests for immunities to these diseases are ordinarily included in the pre-employment physical exam except for those employees who provide results of blood tests or immunization documentation from their own health care providers. Any vaccinations required for these diseases will be given at no cost in our Occupational Health office.