This postdoctoral fellow will help communities adapt to landslide hazards posed by atmospheric rivers in Southeast Alaska. Climate change is increasing the frequency and intensity of storms that initiate landslides in the region and four fatal slides have occurred since 2015. In 2022, the National Science Foundation Coasts and People (CoPe) program funded a team of social scientists, risk communicators, geomorphologists, hydrologists, and atmospheric scientists to work with communities to reduce the risks associated with extreme precipitation. This project, known as Kutí, works directly with community members to identify, prioritize, and mitigate hazards associated with landslides and flooding. Additional funding through the University of Alaska Sea Grant Program has expanded this work to include more communities in the region. The fellow will join the research team and conduct translational research by modeling landslide initiation and runout and developing visualizations for remote communities in Southeast Alaska. The research will draw upon community observations, landslide inventories, and newly developed monitoring programs, to model and map landslide hazards at regional and local scales. The maps will be used to increase community awareness and aid in hazard planning and mitigation.

While it is preferable that the fellow reside in the region, this position can be done remotely, but will require periodic travel to Alaska. The position will be part of the project team with primary supervision by Co-PI Josh Roering, University of Oregon. Other PIs include: Ron Heintz (Sitka Sound Science Center), Gordon Grant (Oregon State University), Rob Lempert (RAND Corporation), Ray Paddock (Tlingit-Haida), Jon Rutz (UC SD, Scripps), and Sunny Rice (UAF/SeaGrant).

For more information, find the listing on our website: https://sitkascience.org/about/careers/