Job Description

Argonne National Laboratory is seeking a Postdoctoral Researcher in the area of life cycle assessment and technology assessment to quantify energy, environmental, and cost effects of energy systems and/or materials. This is a full-time position with the Systems Assessment Center’s Materials Life Cycle Group in the Energy Systems and Infrastructure Analysis Division. We are seeking applicants with strong technical background and expertise of energy systems including transportation fuels and/or low-carbon material technologies that are promising for decarbonization of the transportation, manufacturing industry, and/or agriculture sectors. The Postdoctoral Researcher will have an opportunity to work on research areas including renewable natural gas production and supply chain, CO2 capture and utilization, sustainable aviation fuels, sustainable and carbon-smart agricultural farming practices, waste utilization technologies for energy and material production, critical material production and supply chain, and/or industry materials and decarbonization technologies.

The Postdoctoral Researcher will work with members of the Materials Life Cycle Group to collect, synthesize, and process information; develop high-quality databases and derive data-driven results; apply LCA methodologies to address critical analytical issues; provide rigorous and objective results; publish journal articles and reports; and present results at conferences, workshops, and project meetings.

The Postdoctoral Researcher will analyze energy systems and/or material technologies and contribute to Argonne’s GREET LCA model development and expansion. The Postdoctoral Researcher will collect and develop data with state-of-the-art data analytic techniques for specific energy system and/or material technology and conduct rigorous LCA studies in the GREET modeling platform. The Postdoctoral Researcher will contribute to annual expansion and development of the GREET model with life-cycle results based on a consistent and interactive modeling framework within GREET. Together with the supervisor, the Postdoctoral Researcher will work closely with collaborators from other national labs and academia to evaluate complex systems and to incorporate new data in analyses.

The Materials Life Cycle Group supports DOE and other sponsors to assess the energy and environmental impacts associated with energy systems, materials, and integrated systems to help DOE and other stakeholders guide R&D efforts, identify improvement opportunities, and to propose new methodologies to address emerging issues in LCA/sustainability analysis.

The Systems Assessment Center continues a 30-year history of leadership in the field of life cycle assessment. The Postdoctoral Researcher will join project teams including experts in a variety of topics and will regularly collaborate with experts of other Argonne groups as well as in industry and at other national laboratories. The Systems Assessment Center develops and maintains the Greenhouse Gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy Use in Technologies (GREET) model which is widely used by government, industry, and academic stakeholders to provide objective and rigorous results (see greet.es.anl.gov).

Position Requirements

• Ph.D. degree in civil, chemical, mechanical engineering, environmental science/engineering, or related fields.

• Experience in LCA, process modeling, or closely related areas.

• Expertise in topics related to process modeling and sustainability analysis of energy systems and/or materials.

• Well-developed problem-solving, systems thinking, quantitative, and critical thinking skills; intellectual curiosity. Able to propose and formulate solutions to complex problems.

• Skilled written and verbal communicator, including the ability to present complex information so that it is understandable to a broad audience.

• Demonstrated experience of peer-reviewed journal papers addressing environmental and sustainability performance and cost impacts of energy systems and/or material technologies via LCA modeling and analysis.

• Experience in data-driven sustainability analysis.

• Desire and passion to work as a part of a team in a highly collaborative environment.

• Familiarity with public data sources relevant for environmental and sustainability analysis.

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

Preferred qualifications include:  

• Computer programing skills relevant for data manipulation and analysis. Experience with creating and using complex data-driven analytical models in Excel with VBA scripting, and/or in open-source platforms using Python is preferred.

Uploads

• Curriculum Vitae

• Writing Sample, e.g., journal articles or project reports

• Undergraduate and Graduate School Transcripts, unofficial is acceptable for initial application

• Names and contact information for four references

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