Postdoctoral Scholar Job Flagstaff Arizona USA,Research/Development

Special Information

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.
Driving a vehicle on behalf of the university is anticipated to be a regular part of this position. Arizona Administrative Code Fleet Safety Policy requires all employees who drive on university business become authorized by submitting Driver’s license information for driving record monitoring, and completion of training appropriate to the level of driving performed. The law applies to all faculty, staff, and students who drive personal or university-owned motorized vehicles for any business purpose.

More information on the NAU Authorized Driver Policy can be found on the NAU website.

About the Department/College

The School of Earth & Sustainability is part of the College of the Environment, Forestry & Natural Science at Northern Arizona University's Flagstaff Mountain Campus.

About the Position

We seek a Postdoctoral Scholar to join NSF-funded research projects exploring amino acid biogeochemistry across two complementary ongoing projects:

Developing amino acid geochronology applied to high sea-level deposits globally. This project advances amino acid racemization methods for dating Last Interglacial shorelines (~125,000 years ago) when global sea levels were higher than today—a critical time interval for understanding ice-sheet stability and coastal responses to warming. The scholar will measure amino acid racemization in a curated global collection of marine mollusk shells from dozens of Last Interglacial sites to create temperature-dependent age benchmarks that can reliably date shells from undated localities.

The work will generate a transformative dataset that will make amino acid geochronology more robust and widely applicable.

Investigating amino acids in lake sediment. This project investigates amino acid racemization and decomposition patterns in radiocarbon-dated and laboratory-heated lake sediment to understand organic matter cycling over thousands to millions of years. The scholar will measure reaction parameters for amino acid racemization and decomposition in lake sediment cores across geographically diverse lakes. By quantifying how microbial biomarkers track organic matter processing alongside amino acid alteration in sediments with contrasting organic matter content, this work contributes to understanding the long‑term fate of organic matter in lakes.

This position offers an exceptional opportunity to develop expertise in biogeochemical analysis and its applications to paleo climate research while working within an interdisciplinary team. This includes opportunities to collaborate with the ACE Isotope Lab, providing direct access to state-of-the-art facilities for integrating radiocarbon with amino acid datasets. The scholar will gain hands‑on experience with analytical techniques, data interpretation, manuscript preparation, and collaboration with domestic and international researchers.

Responsibilities Include

75%
-Research & Data Analysis

Analyze and interpret amino acid datasets (D/L ratios, racemization patterns, amino acid compositions) in support of geochronological and paleo environmental research questions.
Perform statistical and computational analyses of amino acid data; interpret results within paleo environmental context.
Collaborate with faculty and graduate students in research projects.
Prepare publications of research findings for peer-reviewed journals.
Present research results at research seminars and regional/national conferences.

20%
-Laboratory Operations & Technical Support

Conduct amino acid analyses on marine shells and lake sediment samples using HPLC and related analytical techniques.
Manage and curate sample collections; maintain records of analyses and QC procedures Support the operations and maintenance of the Amino Acid Geochronology Laboratory as a shared-user research facility.
Assist in training graduate and undergraduate students in laboratory techniques and data interpretation.

5% -…