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The Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere (CIRA) at Colorado State University (CSU) seeks to fill a full-time research associate position designed to conduct collaborative research and development with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) located at the Global Systems Laboratory(GSL) in Boulder, CO. The individual in this position will work inthe NOAA/OAR/GSL Earth Prediction Advancement Division (EPAD)
Physics Branch.

The Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere at Colorado State University is a multi-million-dollar researchorganization located on CSU's Foothills Campus in Fort Collins,Colorado. CIRA is a cooperative institute that is also a research department within CSU's College of Engineering, in partnership withthe Department of Atmospheric Science. Its vision is to conductinterdisciplinary research in the atmospheric sciences byentraining skills beyond the meteorological disciplines, exploitingadvances in engineering and computer science, facilitatingtransitional activity between pure and applied research, leveraging both national and international resources and partnerships, and assisting the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, CSU,the State of Colorado, and the Nation through the application ofour research to areas of societal benefit.

NOAA's Global Systems Laboratory is a federal science and research laboratory under NOAA’s Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research.

GSL provides the National Weather Service (NWS) and the nation with environmental observation, prediction, computer, visualization, and information systems. These systems deliver data, forecasts, andpredictions of weather, including severe weather events, within thenext few minutes to weeks away. GSL is a leader in the applied research, directed development, and technology transfer of environmental data, models, products, and services that enhanceenvironmental understanding with the outcome of supportingcommerce, protecting life and property, and promoting ascientifically literate public.

The individual in this position will lead the design and evaluation of output from real-time and retrospective, hypothesis-drivennumerical weather and Earth system prediction model experiments.

The outcomes of these experiments will be used to informdevelopments necessary to improve the forecast skill and physicalfidelity of the Model for Prediction Across Scales (MPAS)-basednumerical weather and Earth system prediction models developed byGSL, including regional forecast systems such as NOAA’s Rapid Refresh Forecast System and future global forecast systems. The individual in this position will work closely with model developers on designing appropriate experiments, interpreting results, and translating results into scientific feedback to inform model development priorities.

This position will report to the Ensemble Prediction Scientist.

Full Consideration Date:
Thursday, September 24, 2026, 11:59pm(MT).

• In collaboration with model developers, designs, conducts, and evaluates hypothesis-driven experiments to quantify forecast errorsin regional and global, deterministic and ensemble, physics-basedand data-driven weather forecast systems and/or test and evaluateimprovements proposed to reduce those errors.
• Contributes to leading the planning, maintenance, and execution of real-time and retrospective regional and global deterministicand ensemble forecast systems.
• Provides scientific feedback to inform current and future development activities.
• Serves as a subject-matter expert on routine and field-campaignobservations from in situ and remotely sensed platforms to informmodel development and verification.
• Contributes to formulating, executing,…