Data Analyst

Job Description

The Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere (CIRA) at Colorado State University (CSU) is a multi-million dollar research organization located on CSU's Foothills Campus in Fort Collins, Colorado. CIRA is a cooperative institute (CI) that is also a research department within CSU's College of Engineering, in partnership with the Department of Atmospheric Science. Its vision is to conduct interdisciplinary research in the atmospheric sciences by entraining skills beyond the meteorological disciplines, exploiting advances in engineering and computer science, facilitating transitional activity between pure and applied research, leveraging both national and international resources and partnerships, and assisting the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), CSU, the State of Colorado, and the Nation through the application of our research to areas of societal benefit.

Expanding on this Vision, our Mission is to serve as a nexus for multi-disciplinary cooperation among CI and NOAA research scientists, University faculty, staff and students in the context of NOAA-specified research theme areas in satellite applications for weather/climate forecasting. Important bridging elements of the CI include the communication of research findings to the international scientific community, transition of applications and capabilities to NOAA operational users, education and training programs for operational user proficiency, outreach programs to K-12 education and the general public for environmental literacy, and understanding and quantifying the societal impacts of NOAA research.

CIRA seeks to hire a Postdoctoral Fellow for its collaborative research with the National Park Service (NPS) Air Resources Division (ARD). The NPS is responsible for the protection of visual air quality and other air quality related values in all national park units. To this end, ARD, in collaboration with other agencies, manages national networks of air quality monitors of speciated fine particulates, haze, ozone and deposition in over 100 park units.

The ARD also conducts in-depth special studies to address specific questions about the levels and origin of air pollutants in national parks and to further develop and improve field and laboratory methodologies. ARD and CIRA play leadership roles in the Interagency Monitoring of Protected Visual Environments (IMPROVE) visibility network. IMPROVE was established to monitor visibility in national parks and wilderness areas and provides the representative speciated particle monitoring required under the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s Regional Haze Rule (RHR).

The RHR, promulgated in 1999, calls on states to establish goals and reduce emissions to improve visibility in 156 mandatory federal Class I areas where visibility is an important attribute.

This Postdoctoral Fellowship is a 12-month appointment with a flexible start date between 1 May 2026 and 1 July 2026, and option to renew for an additional year contingent upon satisfactory performance and available funding. The fellow will report to the project Principal Investigator and work with both CIRA and NPS researchers in the Fort Collins office to support ARD monitoring and data analysis assessments for the IMPROVE and RHR programs through analysis of aerosol and visibility data.

Projects will involve analyzing air quality data and using dispersion, regional, and/or global chemical transport models for diagnostic purposes. Potential projects primarily support the IMPROVE and RHR programs, including optimization of the IMPROVE monitoring network using AI/machine learning methods if applicable. Projects may also include exploring applications for global modeling to offer new insights into natural conditions used in the RHR metrics.

• Must be legally authorized to work in the United States by the start of the position because CIRA will not sponsor any type of visa for this position now nor in the future.
• This position requires onsite presence because it requires significant collaboration with on-site teams.

• The individual in this position will…