Postdoctoral Research Scientist (AI)

Location: United States; requires an extended research residency at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, Washington, occasional travel to Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Montana field sites, and scientific conferences.

Salary: $65,000 annually, commensurate with experience, education, and qualifications.

Company

hirify.global’s Department of Land Resources and Environmental Sciences conducts research and teaching in soil science, ecology, hydrology, and natural resource management.

What you will do

• Compile and harmonize global observational soil databases for the Soil Functional Type framework.
• Apply unsupervised machine learning to develop depth-explicit SFTs, assess biogeochemical representativeness, and produce global SFT maps.
• Identify priority data and sampling gaps relevant to soil organic matter dynamics.
• Support Montana field campaigns and integrate reactive mineralogy, radiocarbon, and soil organic matter fractionation data into SFT validation.
• Lead ELM benchmarking with Pacific Northwest National Laboratory collaborators and diagnose limitations in mineral–organic matter representations of carbon persistence.
• Contribute to an EMSL user proposal for molecular-scale characterization during the research residency at PNNL.

Requirements

• PhD in soil science, biogeochemistry, environmental data science, Earth system modeling, or a related field.
• Experience applying statistical or machine learning methods to environmental or geospatial datasets.
• Proficiency in R or Python and experience working with large environmental or soil datasets.
• Demonstrated written and oral scientific communication skills.
• Ability to work independently, manage concurrent project objectives, collaborate across institutions, and maintain strong data management practices.
• This position is not eligible for new sponsorship.

Nice to have

• Experience with unsupervised machine learning.
• Experience with Earth System Models such as E3SM/ELM or land-surface and biogeochemical modeling.
• Background in soil biogeochemistry, mineralogy, or soil organic matter dynamics.
• Experience collaborating with national laboratories or large multi-institutional research teams.
• Peer-reviewed publication record.

Culture & Benefits

• Research collaboration with hirify.global, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
• Benefits-eligible appointment at 1.0 FTE.
• Combination of computational, laboratory-based, and field-based research.
• Field work may involve uneven outdoor terrain, digging and soil sampling, transporting up to 40 pounds, and variable weather conditions.
• Position is contingent upon continued DOE EPSCoR grant funding.

Hiring process

• Screening begins October 7, 2026, and applications remain open until an adequate applicant pool is established.
• Submit a CV of up to two pages, a statement of interest of up to one page, and up to five selected publications with explanations.