CSIRO Postdoctoral Fellowship in Tropical Climate Variability - CSIRO - ResearchCareer

First listed on: 15 May 2018

CSIRO Postdoctoral Fellowship in Tropical Climate Variability

  • Are you a recent (or soon-to-be) PhD graduate in meteorology, climatology and/or mathematics?
  • Work with CSIRO Agriculture & Food and the Australian Bureau of Meteorology
  • Kick-start your research career at Australia's premier research organisation

The Position

Postdoctoral Fellows are appointed for up to three years and will work closely with a leading Research Scientist or Engineer in their respective field. They carry out innovative, impactful research of strategic importance to CSIRO with the possibility of novel and important scientific outcomes. They present the findings in appropriate publications and at conferences.

Extensive research has been conducted on seasonal climate variability in the southern half of Australia and how to empower the farming communities of those regions. The same intensity of effort has not been applied in the north over the last decade despite the impact that climate variability has on production and farm finances.  As such, CSIRO Agriculture and Food is seeking to appoint a capable and engaging postdoctoral fellow who is enthusiastic about working with key agricultural stakeholders in northern Australia. While the focus of the role is ultimately on improving sub-seasonal to seasonal timescale forecasts we are wanting to recruit a scientist who has an aptitude and interest in achieving on-ground impact.

As a postdoctoral fellow on our team, you will be based at CSIRO Agriculture and Food supervised by Dr Jaclyn Brown and the Weather and Climate Decisions Team, and collaborating with Dr Andrew Marshall at the Australian Bureau of Meteorology. You will contribute to the international sub-seasonal to seasonal research community, in feeding back new developments in tropical climate pushing the boundaries of multi-week to seasonal forecasting. The design of the project will be informed by exploring stakeholder needs from across different agricultural sectors and working across Agricultural domains. This will be done with guidance from Drs Andrew Ash and Peter Thorburn who are based in Brisbane.

Your duties will include: 

  • Designing statistical approaches to unpack the relationships between the climate drivers and synoptic systems of northern Australia.
  • Analysing the output of seasonal climate forecast models for simulating tropical drivers.
  • Developing improvements to the ACCESS-S climate model or developing post-processing techniques to enhance rainfall predictability.
  • Communicating findings to the CSIRO Climate Decisions Team to assist in developing decision-making tools for farmers and stakeholders from these research findings.
  • Undertaking regular reviews of relevant literature and follow research developments in the subseasonal to seasonal international research community.

Location:  Hobart (Sandy Bay), Tasmania, Australia
Salary:  AU$80K to AU$91K plus up to 15.4% superannuation
Tenure:  3 year specified term
Job reference:  56958

To be successful, you will need:

  • A doctorate (or will shortly satisfy the requirements of a PhD) in a relevant discipline area, such as meteorology, climatology and/or mathematics.
  • Experience interpreting and analysing large climate data sets (both observational and model output) with high level quantitative and analytical techniques.
  • An understanding of the limitations of climate forecasts and possible techniques that can be used to address them in agricultural contexts.
  • Experience in multi-model intercomparisons and ensemble assessments for climate forecasts.
  • An understanding of effective ways to deliver climate information to farmers and stakeholders.

Before you apply, please view the full position details and selection criteria here: Position description

We work flexibly at CSIRO, offering a range of options for how, when and where you work. Talk to us about how this role could be flexible for you. Find out more! Balance

We imagine. We collaborate. We innovate. At CSIRO, we do the extraordinary every day. We innovate for tomorrow and help improve today – for our customers, all Australians and the world. We do this by using science and technology to solve real issues. Diversity is the compass that navigates our innovation. We provide an inclusive workplace that respects, values and actively pursues the benefits of a diverse workforce.

How to apply: Please upload one document only containing both your CV/Resume and cover letter, ensuring you provide specific responses to the essential and desirable criteria as listed in the position description, to enable the selection panel to determine your suitability.

Applications close: 11:59pm AEST, Tuesday19th June, 2018