Post Doctorate Research Associate – Environmental Sensors

Post Doctorate Research Associate – Environmental Sensors

Recruitment began on December 3, 2025

and the job listing Expires on January 3, 2026

At PNNL, our core capabilities are divided among major departments that we refer to as Directorates within the Lab, focused on a specific area of scientific research or other function, with its own leadership team and dedicated budget.

Our Science & Technology directorates include National Security, Earth and Biological Sciences, Physical and Computational Sciences, and Energy and Environment. In addition, we have an Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, a Department of Energy, Office of Science user facility housed on the PNNL campus.

The Earth Systems Science Division, part of the Energy and Environment Directorate, provides leadership and solutions that advance Earth system opportunities for energy systems and national security. We are a multidisciplinary division connected by a shared commitment to innovate and collaborate towards solving complex problems in the dynamic Earth system.

Responsibilities

This Post Doctorate Research Associate will provide support to existing and emerging federally funded programs focused on characterization, monitoring, modeling and/or predicting complex earth, energy and environmental systems. This includes application areas of climate modeling, extreme events, human-earth interactions, environmental remediation, carbon sequestration, renewable generation, power systems operation and planning, grid resiliency, and small cities. The primary scope of this position includes advanced sensor and electronics design and testing, signal acquisition in laboratory settings and field environment, generation of intellectual properties, and writing of high-impact papers.

The Environmental Sensors team within the Earth System Predictability & Resiliency Group of ESSD is seeking candidates to lead key tasks and support interdisciplinary projects including:

• Developing advanced sensing systems for earth system science and renewable energy. These next-generation sensors are not only fast, accurate, and versatile in terms of system performance but also lightweight, small, and soft. They can also be adapted for challenging environments such as deep subsurface and the Arctic environments, as well as for chemical detection.
• Developing advanced energy-harvesting systems for small sensors/transmitters as well as remote sensing platforms.
• Studying the environmental impact of conventional hydropower and marine and hydrokinetic renewable energy systems by detecting and tracking fish or other animals in the river or ocean using underwater acoustic telemetry.

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:

• PhD degree in Electrical Engineering or a related field.
• Strong experience with PCB design, low power electronics and DC-DC power converter, SPICE simulation.
• Strong experience with programming microcontrollers using microcontroller manufacturers’ dedicated development environments.
• Hands-on experience with telemetry system design and testing such as acoustic, RF, and satellite communication systems.
• Experience with C/C++, MATLAB, Simulink, and assembly programming languages.
• Ability to effectively work and communicate within a multidisciplinary development team environment.