Jobs UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO BOULDER

The fields of civil, environmental and architectural engineering offer careers in planning, design, construction and management of the built environment as well as in the interaction between the built and natural environment. The Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering's mission is the education of undergraduate and graduate students to become leaders in the professional practice of engineering, contributing to technological advances that benefit humankind while enhancing the earth’s physical and biological resources.

The Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering fosters an environment of inclusivity and celebrates the increasing diversity of our student body. We are committed to fostering inclusive excellence and have adopted priorities to guide our values and practices.

Mark Hernandez is the S J Archuleta Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering; he directs the Environmental Engineering Microbiology and Disinfection Lab at the University of Colorado. This lab focuses on the characterization and control of microbiological air pollution and microbially induced corrosion. The lab develops genetic, biochemical and toxicological techniques to assess the efficacy of engineering interventions in sectors of sanitary engineering and industrial hygiene that are relevant to environmental health. There is special focus on aerobiology science for wide-area surveillance, indoor cleaning technology and the design of aerosol disinfection systems in the built environment.

Carry out research activities under the supervision of PI Dr. Mark Hernandez.

Context: Commercial surface active agents (“Surfactants”) have been in ubiquitous residential, industrial and military use since the Second World War. These are the classes of chemicals commonly recognized by society as detergents, dispersants and wetting agents. While some surfactants occur naturally, they are dwarfed by the mass and diversity of artificial surfactants, purposely discarded to the built and natural environment. Surfactants’ emulsification properties provide the “cleaning” action for which they are valued as was evidenced by a market that reached $33B in 2104, and for which credible projections now exceed $40B by 2026. Environmental controversy surrounding surfactant use is increasing because in addition to their intrinsic toxicity, these compounds are potent activators for the diffusion and bioavailability of other environmental contaminants. Because of competition and regulatory activity, this industrial chemistry sector is responding with new generations of proprietary surfactant formulations, the environmental fate of which remain largely unknown. As a result, surfactant toxicity, degradation and emissions are receiving increased attention.

The purpose of this Postdoctoral Associate position is to establish a new, specialized analytical chemistry station within the Environmental Engineering laboratory at SEEC. This station will be dedicated to the identification and quantitation of surfactants in indoor environmental aerosol samples capable of analyzing conglomerate surfactant pools in air samples without using Mass Spectrometry (adaptive colorimetric technique). The immediate aim is to leverage the proposed analytical station to demonstrate how robust surfactant analysis can immediately complement built environment and ecological exposure studies, which are ongoing in environmental engineering.

• This position is not anticipated to exceed 7 months.
• Candidates must be legally authorized to work in the US with existing work authorization. Candidates from abroad who are seeking visa sponsorship for employment visa will not be considered.

• The monthly rate of pay associated with this position is $6,500.00.

• PhD in environmental engineering, atmospheric chemistry, or a related field (chemistry with aerosol research experience).

• Detail oriented.
• Ability to work well in a team.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, specifically to draft research plans and technical progress reports for review.