Job Description

The Postdoctoral Research Scholar in the Biodesign Center for Environmental Health Engineering will contribute to an interdisciplinary research program focused on environmental health, waterborne pathogens, and quantitative risk assessment. The successful candidate will lead quantitative modeling and data analysis efforts for Legionnaires' disease outbreak investigations and quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA), while supporting additional projects involving spatial analysis of environmental hazards and health risks. The scholar will work collaboratively with faculty, students, government agencies, and external research partners to develop innovative analytical approaches that inform public health decision-making and environmental risk management.

This position offers opportunities to lead independent research, mentor students and research staff, contribute to grant-funded projects, publish in high-impact journals, and present findings at scientific conferences and stakeholder meetings.

Essential Duties:

• Lead quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA) modeling for Legionnaires' disease outbreak investigations and related environmental health projects.
• Design, develop, implement, and validate computational models for microbial exposure assessment, disease transmission, and environmental risk characterization.
• Conduct advanced statistical, computational, and spatial analyses of environmental and public health datasets.
• Develop and maintain reproducible analytical workflows using R or similar programming languages.
• Interpret complex datasets and translate findings into actionable recommendations for public health and environmental management.
• Lead preparation of scientific manuscripts, technical reports, presentations, and grant-related deliverables.
• Present research findings at scientific meetings, stakeholder workshops, and meetings with government agencies and research collaborators.
• Mentor and supervise graduate and undergraduate students, research staff, and trainees involved in modeling and analytical projects.
• Collaborate with multidisciplinary research teams, including environmental engineers, microbiologists, epidemiologists, and public health professionals.
• Contribute to laboratory-based research activities, including culture-based and molecular analyses of environmental samples for pathogenic microorganisms and associated microbial communities, as appropriate.
• Interface with local, state, and federal government officials, industry partners, and academic collaborators to support collaborative research initiatives.
• Participate in proposal development and contribute to expanding the laboratory's research portfolio.
• Perform additional duties as assigned.

Qualifications

Minimum Qualifications:

• Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering, Civil Engineering, Environmental Health, Epidemiology, Biostatistics, Microbiology, Computational Biology, Data Science, Public Health, or a closely related discipline obtained within the last 2 years or less.

Desired Qualifications:

• Demonstrated experience with Legionella, waterborne pathogens, or environmental microbiology.
• Demonstrated expertise in spatial analysis, geospatial statistics, GIS, or environmental exposure modeling.
• Demonstrated experience with Bayesian modeling, simulation methods, machine learning, or uncertainty analysis.
• Demonstrated leadership in research design, project management, and interdisciplinary collaboration.
• Demonstrated experience mentoring or supervising graduate students, undergraduate researchers, or research staff.
• Demonstrated experience interacting with government agencies, public health organizations, or other external stakeholders.
• Demonstrated familiarity with culture-based microbiological methods and molecular techniques (e.g., qPCR, sequencing) for environmental pathogen detection.
• Demonstrated experience contributing to competitive grant proposals and multidisciplinary research initiatives.

Application Instructions

Only electronic submissions will be reviewed. Incomplete applications will not be considered. To apply for this position, submit the following required application materials:

• Cover letter

• A complete curriculum vitae

• The names and contact information of three references (name, position, title, organization, email, and phone number).

The initial application deadline is Monday July 27, 2026. Applications will continue to be accepted on a rolling basis for a reserve pool. Applications in the reserve pool may then be reviewed in the order in which they were received until the position is filled.

Equal Employment Opportunity Statement

A background check is required for employment. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, or any other basis protected by law.

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