Postdoctoral Scholar Flood Risk Assessment, UC Irvine Flood Lab

Position overview

Salary range: The salary range for this position is $69,073 - $71,632. Commensurate with Experience and According to UCI Salary Scale.

Application Window

Open date: May 26, 2026

Next review date: Tuesday, Jun 30, 2026 at 11:59pm (Pacific Time)

Final date: Tuesday, Jun 30, 2026 at 11:59pm (Pacific Time)

Position description

The Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of California, Irvine invites applications for a Postdoctoral Scholar position in the UC Irvine Flood Lab focused on flood risk change across Southern California. The successful candidate will conduct research on how multiple interacting factors - including land use change, ground subsidence, climate change, and compound hazard drivers - are reshaping flood hazards and risks across the region.

Responsibilities

The postdoctoral scholar will lead two major research thrusts. The first involves high-resolution hydrodynamic modeling of flood hazard change across Southern California watersheds driven by historical and projected land use change, with exposed population and property assessed on a decade-by-decade basis. The second involves development and evaluation of Monte Carlo-based methods for compound flood hazard assessment, including configuration of a rainfall emulator for Southern California and large-ensemble flood inundation simulations using the Parallel Raster Inundation Model (PRIMo). Deliverables include peer-reviewed journal articles, technical reports, and publicly available datasets and online visualization tools.

Qualifications

Applicants must hold a Ph.D. in civil engineering, hydrology, earth sciences, or a closely related field.

Preferred qualifications: the ideal candidate will bring a combination of the following: Experience with computational hydrodynamic or hydrologic modeling; Proficiency in remote sensing and GIS methods; Strong hydrology and flood hazard expertise; Experience automating scientific workflows on high-performance computing (HPC) systems; A track record of peer-reviewed publications and strong written communication skills.

This is a full-time, two-year appointment, with the possibility of renewal subject to performance and funding availability.