DOE-EM; EMGFP) Post Masters Fellow - Geochemistry

Overview

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, Integrated Discovery 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 Energy and Environment Directoratedeliversscience and technology solutions for the nation’s biggest energy and environmental challenges. Our more than 1,700 staff support the Department of Energy (DOE), delivering on key DOE mission areas including: modernizing our nation’s power grid to maintain a reliable, affordable, secure, and resilient electricity delivery infrastructure; research, development, validation, and effective utilization of renewable energy and efficiency technologies that improve the affordability, reliability, resiliency, and security of the American energy system;

and resolving complex issues in nuclear science, energy, and environmental management.

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.

DOE’s Office of Environmental Management Graduate Fellowship Program is seeking graduate fellows to work on some of the nation’s greatest cleanup efforts. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) is a world‑class research institution powered by a highly educated, diverse workforce committed to collaboration and work–life balance. Every year, scores of dynamic, driven interns come to PNNL to work with renowned researchers on meaningful science, innovations and outcomes for the U.S. Department of Energy and other sponsors;

here is your chance to be one of them!

Cleanup of highly complex waste, contaminated soil, and groundwater is one of the Department of Energy’s most important environmental challenges. The EM Graduate Fellowship Program (EMGFP) provides recent graduates with an opportunity to conduct hands‑on research that supports the mission of DOE's Office of Environmental Management (EM).

Environmental remediation of legacy waste requires assessment of a range of scientific data, including soil and groundwater analyses, geology, geophysical measurements, and data from remediation systems. In this project, the selected candidate will help advance spectral induced polarization (SIP), an electrical geophysical method for real‑time monitoring of subsurface remediation technologies.

The project will explore how SIP can be used to understand the behavior and effectiveness of two types of remediation approaches:

• Liquid phosphate amendments used topromote in situ apatite formation.
• Reducing agents, such as zero‑valent iron (ZVI), used for immobilization and degradation.

The candidate will combine geophysical measurements with geochemical and mineralogical data to better understand what is happening during remediation. The goal is to develop SIP as a practical, non‑invasive way to monitor where remediation amendments are distributed, how they react in the subsurface, and how well they continue to perform over time.

You do not need to be an expert in SIP or environmental remediation to be successful in this position. We are looking for a motivated early‑career scientist who is excited to learn, work with different types of data, and contribute to…