Open Postdoctoral position, faculty mentor Oliver Fringer

Posted on Wed, 10/14/2026 - 17:37

Important Info

Faculty Sponsor First name: 
Oliver
Faculty Sponsor Last Name: 
Fringer
Stanford Departments and Centers: 
Civil and Environmental Engineering
Postdoc Appointment Term: 
1.5 years
Appointment Start Date: 
2/1/27
How to Submit Application Materials: 

Please email application materials to Oliver Fringer at fringer@stanford.edu, with the subject line Postdoctoral Scholar Application – Sediment Transport Modeling.

Applications will be reviewed as they are received and until the position is filled.

Does this position pay above the required minimum?: 
Yes. The expected base pay range for this position is listed in Pay Range field. The pay offered to the selected candidate will be determined based on factors including (but not limited to) the qualifications of the selected candidate, budget availability, and internal equity.
Pay Range: 
$80,000-$85,000

The Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Stanford University invites applications for a postdoctoral research scholar position in three-dimensional sediment transport modeling.  The successful candidate will be involved in the development and implementation of an open-source hydrodynamic and sediment transport modeling framework for San Francisco Bay using the DFlow-FM modeling suite. The four-year project has two primary phases. During the first phase, for which a postdoc will be appointed for up to approximately 1.5 years, the postdoc will focus on implementation and validation of cohesive sediment transport modeling routines for erosion and settling using the population balance approach, in which sediment or floc size classes exchange mass due to flocculation and breakup parameterizations based on flow, turbulence, and sediment properties. During the second, follow-on phase, for which a postdoc will be appointed up to an additional 2.5 years, the postdoc will focus on implementing methods in data assimilation to infer the cohesive sediment transport parameters using the ensemble Kalman filter and adjoint approaches. 

This announcement focuses on appointing a postdoc to work on the first phase. This postdoc could be re-appointed to work on the second phase, although this is not necessary given the breadth of experience that would be needed to work on both phases. The goal is to develop a three-dimensional, cohesive sediment transport model that can accurately predict the transport of fine suspended sediment in San Francisco Bay to answer relevant science and management questions.

The project is funded by the San Francisco Bay Regional Monitoring Program (RMP) and administered by the San Francisco Estuary Institute (SFEI).

The Stanford PI for the project, Oliver Fringer, is collaborating with Galen Egan at Princeton University. Prof. Egan is PI on a companion project seeking to develop a one-dimensional vertical water column (1DV) model along with data assimilation to infer parameters related to erosion and settling of cohesive sediments from observations.  A key focus of the two projects is to understand the factors leading to differences in the underlying parameters inferred in the 1DV and 3D models, with the ultimate goal of developing methods to infer parameters from observations that are directly usable in 3D models.

Responsibilities

  • Calibrate a traditional, fixed size-class model for suspended sediment transport in an existing DFlow-FM hydrodynamic and wave model implementation of San Francisco Bay.
  • Develop, implement, and validate cohesive sediment transport models using the population balance approach for use in the DFlow-FM modeling framework.
  • Analyze model results and observational data to investigate cohesive sediment transport processes and parameterizations.
  • Write project reports for submission to the San Francisco Bay RMP Sediment Workgroup, and present the results of those reports at Sediment Workgroup meetings.
  • Publish research findings in peer-reviewed journals and present results at scientific meetings.
Required Qualifications: 
  • A Ph.D. in Civil and/or Environmental Engineering, Physical Oceanography, Applied Mathematics, or a closely related field by the appointment start date.
  • Experience with the DFlow-FM modeling software including hydrodynamics, waves, and sediment transport.
  • Proficiency in MATLAB, Python, and Fortran or an equivalent programming language such as C or C++.
  • Strong quantitative and analytical skills.
  • Excellent written and oral communication skills.
  • A record of scholarly research and peer-reviewed publications.
Required Application Materials: 
  1. A curriculum vitae.
  2. A cover letter describing research experience and interest in the position.
  3. Names and contact information of three references.

 

Stanford is an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.