Job Description

The Materials Life Cycle Analysis Group of the Systems Assessment Center within the Energy Systems and Infrastructure Analysis Division at Argonne National Laboratory is seeking qualified applicants for a full-time Post-Doctoral Researcher position, working life cycle analysis (LCA) of bioenergy and agricultural systems with specific focus on effects of farming practices on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions including soil carbon. The Materials Life Cycle Analysis Group has research projects for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and other sponsors to assess the energy and environmental outcomes associated with fuels, products, and other systems to address environmental effects of bioenergy feedstock production, bioenergy production, and agriculture decarbonization. The Systems Assessment Center has a history of 30 years in the field of life cycle analysis (LCA).

A successful candidate will assess the environmental impacts of farming systems by examining different farming practices, their effects on agricultural yields, GHG emissions, and other environmental effects, applying models/tools to simulating farming practices, and to collect data from open literature and statistics from US Department of Agriculture and other agencies.

The candidate will work on projects to evaluate the synergies between the decarbonization of U.S. agriculture and the production of low-carbon intensity (CI) feedstock for biofuels and bioproducts. Specific research focuses include: 1) quantifying soil carbon including soil organic carbon (SOC) changes and GHG emissions including nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions associated with current and emerging farming practices/technologies adopted in US farming, and 2) developing and expanding existing tools at Argonne to address farming practices and technologies with U.S. regional resolution. Such Argonne tools include the Carbon Calculator for Land Use and Land Management Change from Biofuels Production (CCLUB) and Feedstock Carbon Intensity Calculator (FD-CIC), both of which are part of the GREET LCA model suite (see greet.anl.gov).

The candidate will work with a diversified group of researchers within Argonne’s Systems Assessment Center to benefit from the long history of life cycle analysis research of the Center. The candidate will have opportunities to collaborate with the scientists/researchers externally from universities, other national laboratories, and companies, and project sponsors including US Department of Energy and Department of Agriculture. The candidate will have opportunities to attend conferences/workshops to present and learn and publish results in journals.

Position Requirements

• Ph.D. degree in agronomy, soil science, environmental science, or other related fields.

• Knowledge of SOC and GHG effects (especially N2O emissions) of agroecosystems and farming practices.

• Experience in running process-based models for agroecosystems (e.g., DAYCENT, CENTURY, and DNDC).

• Experience in data-driven analysis using models and data from other sources and ability to data sources in relevant fields.

• Quantitative skills such as proficient MS Excel, Python, and statistics tools.

• Written and verbal communications for effective presentations and concise technical publications.

• A successful candidate must have the ability to model Argonne’s Core Values: Impact, Safety, Respect, Integrity, and Teamwork. 

Preferred Qualifications:

• Familiarity with various farming practices and data/information available from various databases and published literature.

• Experience with programming software/languages (e.g., Excel VBA scripting, R, Python, or ArcGIS (or related software).

• Familiarity of LCA models such as the GREET model (greet.anl.gov).

• Motivated with the ability to work independently and in close collaboration with team members.

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