Postdoctoral Scholar

Postdoctoral Scholar

Northern Arizona University

• This position is an on-site position which requires the incumbent to complete their work primarily at an NAU site, campus, or facility with or without accommodation. Opportunities for remote work are rare.
• This position is subject to the availability of funding. The incumbent is not eligible for Service Professional non-renewal notice, or Classified Staff layoff or recall status.

Northern Arizona University (NAU) is a Carnegie R1 university with over $77 million dollars in annual research expenditures. The School of Informatics, Computing, and Cyber Systems (SICCS) is known for its student-centered approach and strong emphasis on hands‑on learning and research. Faculty and students engage in cutting‑edge work in areas like AI, Robotics, and Microelectronics. We offer a variety of undergraduate and graduate degrees, offered by approximately 60 faculty in the school, with roughly 1,200 undergraduate and 500 graduate students.

The undergraduate Electrical and Computer Engineering degree programs are ABET-accredited. The department fosters close faculty‑student interaction, with a focus on mentoring and collaborative research, partnering with local and national organizations to apply engineering solutions to real‑world problems, especially those relevant to Arizona and the Southwest.

The Postdoctoral Researcher will lead domestic and international infectious disease forecasting efforts of the Fox Lab within the School of Informatics, Computing, and Cyber Systems at Northern Arizona University. This position will play a central role in advancing the university's growing research portfolio in data‑driven public health and computational epidemiology. The Postdoc will coordinate real‑time forecast submissions to national initiatives including the Flu Sight, RSV, COVID‑19, and Metro Cast Forecast Hubs, as well as the Southern America Influenza Forecast Hub, helping to position our group as a leader in global epidemic forecasting.

In addition to managing these forecasting activities, the Postdoctoral Researcher will develop new modeling frameworks, conduct original research, publish scientific papers, and present findings at national and international conferences. The position will also contribute to training and capacity‑building activities, including workshops for public health officials and mentorship of students and collaborators, supporting the broader goal of strengthening the global infectious disease forecasting community.

• Design, implement, and evaluate new statistical, mechanistic, and hybrid forecasting models to improve accuracy, generalizability, and global applicability of epidemic forecasts.

• Lead national and international infectious disease forecasting activities, including coordinating real‑time submissions to the Flu Sight, RSV, COVID‑19, Metro Cast, and Southern America Influenza Forecast Hubs.
• Oversee model updates, data processing, and evaluation pipelines.

• Analyze forecasting results.
• Prepare manuscripts and reports.
• Present findings at national and international conferences.

• Mentor graduate students and junior researchers.
• Lead workshops and training activities for public health officials to enhance capacity in epidemic forecasting and data‑driven decision‑making.

• Present research findings at national and international conferences and develop training curriculum for international forecast partners.
• Other duties as assigned.

• PhD in a quantitative field including but not limited to biology/ecology/evolution, epidemiology, public health, operations research, mathematics, statistics/biostatistics, or data science.

* A combination of related education, experience, and training may be used as an equivalent to the above Minimum Qualifications.

• Demonstrated familiarity with statistical analysis, machine learning, and time‑series modeling techniques.
• Experience in infectious disease modeling,…