Research Scientist Hydroinformatics, Adaptive AI, and Watershed Modeling

Job Description

The Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Virginia Tech invites applications for a Research Scientist in Hydroinformatics Adaptive AI and Watershed Modeling. The successful candidate will join Dr. Siddharth Saksenas research group (the FLOODGEEKS) to lead the technical execution and expansion of advanced watershed management frameworks. The primary research mission is to develop next-generation forecasting and nutrient loading estimation engines.

Required Qualifications

Ph.D. in Civil or Environmental Engineering Hydrology Data Science Geosciences Computer Science or a related quantitative field.
Demonstrated expertise in process-based watershed modeling hydroinformatics or water quality simulation.
Advanced programming skills in Python (specifically for model automation machine learning pipelines or geospatial big data processing) and/or R.
Proven track record of grant writing and contributing to competitive research proposals for federal or state funding agencies.
Strong peer-reviewed publication record in reputable hydrology water resources or environmental modeling journals.
Excellent communication skills with a demonstrated ability to present complex computational workflows to engineering and non-engineering audiences alike.

Preferred Qualifications

Familiarity with physics-informed machine learning (PIML) deep learning architectures for time-series forecasting (e.g. LSTMs Transformers) or adaptive AI agents.
Experience working with large-scale meteorological forcing datasets (e.g. MRMS HRRR climate reanalyses) and satellite-derived surface observations.
Experience building documenting and maintaining open-source toolkits or Python APIs for environmental model automation.
Demonstrated experience working in collaborative interdisciplinary teams that directly interface with water resource managers utilities or environmental stakeholders.

Overtime Status

Exempt: Not eligible for overtime

Appointment Type

Restricted

Salary Information

Starting at $79000; commensurate with experience

Hours per week

40

Review Date

6/29/2026

Additional Information

The successful candidate will be required to have a criminal conviction check.

About Virginia Tech

Dedicated to its mottoUt Prosim(That I May Serve) Virginia Tech pushes the boundaries of knowledge by taking a hands-on transdisciplinary approach to preparing scholars to be leaders and problem-solvers. A comprehensive land-grant institution that enhances the quality of life in Virginia and throughout the world Virginia Tech is aninclusive communitydedicated to knowledge discovery and creativity. The university offers more than 280 majors to a diverse enrollment of more than 36000 undergraduate graduate and professional students in eightundergraduate colleges aschool of medicine aveterinary medicinecollegeGraduate School andHonors College.The university has a significant presence across Virginia including Blacksburg the greater Washington D.C. area the Health Sciences and Technology Campus in Roanoke sites in Newport News and Richmond and numerousExtension officesandresearch institutes.A leading global research institution Virginia Tech conducts more than $650 million in research annually.

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