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Summary The Agricultural Research Service (ARS) is the United States Department of Agriculture's chief scientific research agency and one of the world's premiere scientific organizations. ARS Postdoctoral Research Associates are hired to supplement a lead scientist's research on agricultural problems of high national priority affecting American agriculture. This position is located in the Water Management & Systems Research Unit in Fort Collins, CO. ANNOUNCEMENT IS OPEN UNTIL FILLED OR 3/21/2025 Responsibilities Performs research with the objective to leverage existing datasets and ongoing deficit and spatial irrigation management projects. Will develop a suite of automated, repeatable processes and tools for precision variable rate irrigation (VRI) decisions in real-time. Will integrate an open-source water balance and evapotranspiration model product “pyfao56” with field data collection, database design, quality control, visualization, and immediate analysis to support real-time precision VRI prescriptions. Will develop products that will be tested and integrated with ongoing research at the USDA-ARS Limited Irrigation Research Farm in Greeley, CO. Will prepare and submit final research results in peer-reviewed journals and presentations at conferences. Requirements Conditions of Employment Qualifications This position requires a recent Ph.D. (within the past four years) in Agricultural or Civil Engineering, Soil and Crop Sciences or Agronomy, Hydrology, Atmospheric Science, or a related field of study that has equipped the applicant with the necessary knowledge, skills and abilities to perform the duties and responsibilities of the position. Desired skills include: Experience working with process-based models; development of computational and applied software tools; proficiency with open-source programming languages (e.g., Python, R). Experience in data acquisition and QAQC protocols and database management. Experience with high-level computing processes such as global sensitivity analysis and machine learning; familiarity with hydrologic process, water balance and evapotranspiration modeling, and irrigation management; proficiency with geospatial and statistical coding, and IoT and cloud computing. Ability to work independently and as part of a large collaborative group. Field work may occasionally be required in hot field conditions. Applicants must meet basic Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Qualification Standard's requirements of the scientific discipline necessary to perform the duties and responsibilities of the position. Agricultural Engineering Series 0890 Basic Requirements: Degree: Engineering. To be acceptable, the program must: (1) lead to a bachelor's degree in a school of engineering with at least one program accredited by ABET; or (2) include differential and integral calculus and courses (more advanced than first-year physics and chemistry) in five of the following seven areas of engineering science or physics: (a) statics, dynamics; (b) strength of materials (stress-strain relationships); (c) fluid mechanics, hydraulics; (d) thermodynamics; (e) electrical fields and circuits; (f) nature and properties of materials (relating particle and aggregate structure to properties); and (g) any other comparable area of fundamental engineering science or physics, such as optics, heat transfer, soil mechanics, or electronics. OR Combination of education and experience - college-level education, training, and/or technical experience that furnished (1) a thorough knowledge of the physical and mathematical sciences underlying engineering, and (2) a good understanding, both theoretical and practical, of the engineering sciences and techniques and their applications to one of the branches of engineering. The adequacy of such background must be demonstrated by one of the following: Professional registration or licensure - Current registration as an Engineer Intern (EI), Engineer in Training (EIT)1, or licensure as a Professional Engineer (PE) by any State, the District of Columbia, Guam, or Puerto Rico. Absent other means of qualifying under this standard, those applicants who achieved such registration by means other than written test (e.g., State grandfather or eminence provisions) are eligible only for positions that are within or closely related to the specialty field of their registration. For example, an applicant who attains registration through a State Board's eminence provision as a manufacturing engineer typically would be rated eligible only for manufacturing engineering positions. Written Test - Evidence of having successfully passed the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE)2 examination or any other written test required for professional registration by an engineering licensure board in the various States, the District of Columbia, Guam, and Puerto Rico. Specified academic courses - Successful completion of at least 60 semester hours of courses in the physical, mathematical, and engineering sciences and that included the courses specified in the basic requirements under paragraph A. The courses must be fully acceptable toward meeting the requirements of an engineering program as described in paragraph A. Related curriculum - Successful completion of a curriculum leading to a bachelor's degree in an appropriate scientific field, e.g., engineering technology, physics, chemistry, architecture, computer science, mathematics, hydrology, or geology, may be accepted in lieu of a bachelor's degree in engineering, provided the applicant has had at least 1 year of professional engineering experience acquired under professional engineering supervision and guidance. Ordinarily there should be either an established plan of intensive training to develop professional engineering competence, or several years of prior professional engineering-type experience, e.g., in interdisciplinary positions. (The above examples of related curricula are not all-inclusive.) Physical Science Series 1301 Basic Requirements: Degree: physical science, engineering, or mathematics that included 24 semester hours in physical science and/or related engineering science such as mechanics, dynamics, properties of materials, and electronics. OR Combination of education and experience: education equivalent to one of the majors shown in A above that included at least 24 semester hours in physical science and/or related engineering science, plus appropriate experience or additional education. Education This position has a positive education requirement. You must submit a copy of your academic transcripts OR a list of college courses with credit hours, dates completed, and grades received to verify education when applying for this position. If this information is not provided, your education may not be appropriately evaluated and you may lose consideration for this position. If you are selected for this position, you will have to provide an official copy of your transcripts prior to entering on duty. Application materials will not be returned. A Ph.D. is required that was obtained within the last four years. Additional Information This position may be eligible to telework up to four days per week, based upon the duties of the position. This position may also be eligible for flexible work arrangements as determined by agency policy and any applicable collective bargaining agreements.