Jobs UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO BOULDER

At CIRES, more than 950 environmental science professionals work to understand the dynamic Earth system, including people’s relationship with the planet. CIRES has partnered with NOAA since 1967, and our areas of expertise include weather and climate, changes at Earth’s poles, air quality and atmospheric chemistry, water resources, solid Earth sciences, and more. Our vision is to be instrumental in ensuring a sustainable future environment by advancing scientific and societal understanding of the Earth system.

Antarctic deployment to McMurdo Station from August 2025 through October 2026 (depending on NSF approval), where the successful candidate will work with a Winter-Over Team Leader to make extensive lidar observations.

• Conduct lidar system operation and maintenance as well as participate in refurbishment, instrument upgrades, and logistics at McMurdo Station. 65%
• Conduct lidar data analysis and participate in scientific investigations and publications. 25%
• Participate in and contribute to outreach activities. 10%

• The final candidate is subject to the NSF Antarctic physical qualification (PQ) processes.
• The anticipated start date is around 1 August 2025.
• The anticipated end of this position is 31 October 2026.

• CIRES offers a generous compensation and benefits package.
• The annual hiring salary for this position is $47,650 to $60,000. Salary is commensurate with education and experience and determined based on our CIRES internal career track classification.
• The travel costs to and from Antarctica will be covered.
• Boulder is a vibrant community with access to mountain parks, dog parks, miles of trails, rivers, lakes, cafes, restaurants, boutiques, theaters, museums, and sports venues. Boulder was recently ranked as one of the top places to live in the U.S. by U.S. News.
• As an employee at CU Boulder, you will have free access to the regional public transit system, an outstanding network of buses, and light rail systems that service Boulder and connect to Denver, the Denver airport, and surrounding communities.
• CIRES and the University of Colorado Boulder offer a robust training curriculum, opportunities for professional development and a Mentorship Program.

• Bachelor of Science degree in aerospace engineering sciences, physics, laser spectroscopy, optical engineering, or electrical engineering.
• Ability to work in Antarctica uninterrupted for 14 months.
• All candidates are subject to the NSF Antarctic physical qualification (PQ) processes for traveling to and working in Antarctica.
• Strong hands-on experience and skills with lidar and laser operation, mechanics, electronic circuits and equipment, photonics, fiber optics, or equivalent experimental experience/skills.
• Experience in handling logistics for lidar projects.
• Experience with mobile lidar laboratory and lidar containers.

• Strong commitment to Antarctica lidar observations and demonstrated mentality and work ethics for conducting lab experiments and observational research.
• Physical and mental fortitude to handle lidar work independently in Antarctica.
• Engineering skills and knowledge of lidars and instrumentation.
• Skills in programming languages of MATLAB, LabVIEW, R, C++, or Python for data retrieval, analysis, or simulation.
• Stable and logical workstyle, even under pressure.
• A strong commitment to teamwork and proactive communication combined with high work ethics and standards.
• Ability to pass a test on lidar basics.
• Ability to work long or unusual hours to collect data during clear sky windows.