Join our lab
Current opportunities
We are looking to support two PhD students (stipend, tuition, health coverage) to work on applied climate challenges specific to the western United States starting in summer or fall 2023. These challenges include both pure climate questions as well as climate impacts and applications to human-and-natural systems including water resources, agriculture, and ecosystems. Interested students should send an email with their CV to John Abatzoglou. Applicants should have enthusiasm for scientific computing, climate science, and climate impacts. The Climatology lab is motivated to maintain a diverse and inclusive lab environment; students from under-represented groups are strongly encouraged to apply.
One position will be funded through a large multi-institute project AgAID which is supported through NSF that includes colleagues at UC Merced, Washington State, Oregon State, and the University of Virginia. This student will work on improving understanding of how science-guided artificial intelligence can improve water allocation decisions in a changing climate in semi-arid agricultural lands of the western US. This student will likely have an opportunity to be immersed in data fusion of traditional and science-guided AI approaches for seasonal climate and hydrologic forecasting.
A second position will be funded by the Joint Fire Science Program to understand the processes and patterns of human-caused fires and fires that resist suppression efforts to become large fires in the western US. This project aims to additionally understand the potential value of fire-prevention efforts in culling human-caused fires and the meteorological and climatological factors that enable large human-caused fires. The student will work as part of a team including collaborators at Oregon State University and Boise State University.
Desired qualifications:
Doctoral coursework can be in the multi-disciplinary Environmental Systems (ES) PhD program or Management of Complex Systems (MCS) PhD program.
UC Merced: The newest 'UC', established in 2005 with a mission to serve the Central Valley by promoting sustainable environment and society. Notably, UCM is a designated Hispanic-Serving Institution and the most diverse UC campus. UC Merced is located about 2 hours from both the San Francisco Bay Area and Yosemite National Park in the Sierra Nevada.
We are looking to support two PhD students (stipend, tuition, health coverage) to work on applied climate challenges specific to the western United States starting in summer or fall 2023. These challenges include both pure climate questions as well as climate impacts and applications to human-and-natural systems including water resources, agriculture, and ecosystems. Interested students should send an email with their CV to John Abatzoglou. Applicants should have enthusiasm for scientific computing, climate science, and climate impacts. The Climatology lab is motivated to maintain a diverse and inclusive lab environment; students from under-represented groups are strongly encouraged to apply.
One position will be funded through a large multi-institute project AgAID which is supported through NSF that includes colleagues at UC Merced, Washington State, Oregon State, and the University of Virginia. This student will work on improving understanding of how science-guided artificial intelligence can improve water allocation decisions in a changing climate in semi-arid agricultural lands of the western US. This student will likely have an opportunity to be immersed in data fusion of traditional and science-guided AI approaches for seasonal climate and hydrologic forecasting.
A second position will be funded by the Joint Fire Science Program to understand the processes and patterns of human-caused fires and fires that resist suppression efforts to become large fires in the western US. This project aims to additionally understand the potential value of fire-prevention efforts in culling human-caused fires and the meteorological and climatological factors that enable large human-caused fires. The student will work as part of a team including collaborators at Oregon State University and Boise State University.
Desired qualifications:
- Experience with a scripting language (MATLAB/R/Python)
- Experience working with large and/or diverse datasets
- Experience with statistical approaches or quantitative approaches
- M.S. degree in a relevant science or engineering discipline by Spring 2023 (B.S. is also acceptable)
- Strong interpersonal and written communication skills
Doctoral coursework can be in the multi-disciplinary Environmental Systems (ES) PhD program or Management of Complex Systems (MCS) PhD program.
UC Merced: The newest 'UC', established in 2005 with a mission to serve the Central Valley by promoting sustainable environment and society. Notably, UCM is a designated Hispanic-Serving Institution and the most diverse UC campus. UC Merced is located about 2 hours from both the San Francisco Bay Area and Yosemite National Park in the Sierra Nevada.
