Postdoctoral Fellowship, Academia/Industry Research in Numerical Modeling of Ocean-Based Carbon Dioxide Removal, Dalhousie University & atdepth MRV, Inc.

Ppostdoctoral position to work on advancing the numerical modeling of marine Carbon Dioxide Removal (mCDR). This industry postdoctoral fellowship has an exclusive professional development curriculum component and will be evenly split between academia and industry. The postdoctoral fellow will be co-advised by Prof. Ruth Musgrave at Dalhousie University and by the MIT spin-off company atdepth MRV.

About us:

Prof. Ruth Musgrave is a Canada Research Chair (Tier 2) in Physical Oceanography at Dalhousie University, working in the nascent field of mCDR. Her group uses observations and numerical models to examine the physical processes that determine the efficiencies and environmental impacts of mCDR techniques, in particular related to Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement (OAE).

atdepth MRV is an MIT-spinoff company co-founded by Prof. Thomas Peacock, Dr. Raphael Ouillon and Dr. Carlos Munoz-Royo. It is supported by the US Department of Energy, via the ARPA-E SEA-CO2 program, to develop modeling and monitoring solutions to provide high-certainty quantification of carbon dioxide removal in the ocean.

The team seeks to build a high-performance, GPU-based simulation system for marine carbon dioxide removal sites that will be game-changing via its ability to resolve all the relevant scales, from the global ocean to the operation’s near-field.

Research focus and qualifications:

The researcher will use and contribute to the development of novel ocean physical and biogeochemical modeling codes that achieve breakthrough performance by running natively on GPUs in order to study the hydrodynamic and biogeochemical processes associated with OAE operations. The researcher will develop the regional modeling capabilities of the code, with initial application to the Bedford Basin and Halifax Harbour, a domain size of around 30×30 km, with a goal of producing a coupled biogeochemical-physical model within which alkalinity additions can be simulated. The goals of the research include:

1. Development and implementation of a modeling methodology using the novel modeling framework, validating the model against field data.
2. Development and assessment of different methods for constraining the simulation to observations.
3. Development of techniques to integrate near-field simulations of alkalinity additions into the regional simulation
4. Assessment of the respective role of near-field O(1-100)m scale processes and regional O(1-100)km scale processes on carbon dioxide uptake and evaluation of the ability of the modeling approach to capture and connect the relevant scales.
5. Quantification of the uncertainty associated with modeling carbon dioxide removal in the ocean and the ability of the novel modeling framework to capture the relevant processes.
6. Application of the modeling system to conduct realistic simulations of OAE operations.

Applicants with experience in physical oceanography, fluid dynamics and numerical modeling are encouraged to apply by sending a CV and cover letter to the contact below. We especially encourage applications from Indigenous persons, persons of Black/African descent, and members of other racialized groups, persons with disabilities, women, and persons identifying as members of 2SLGBTQIA+ communities, and all candidates who would contribute to the diversity of our community.

Contacts:

atdepth MRV:
Dr. Raphael Ouillon
raphael.ouillon@atdepthmrv.com

Dalhousie University, Department of Oceanography:
Prof. Ruth Musgrave
rmusgrave@dal.ca