Associate Research Scientist

The Center for Climate Systems Research (CCSR) in the Columbia Climate School invites applications for an Associate Research Scientist (ARS) in cloud microphysics modeling. We seek a highly motivated scientist with a strong background in atmospheric science and a demonstrated record of research contributions to cloud and precipitation processes. This position is closely aligned with CCSR’s strategic focus on Earth System Intelligence: using AI-driven climate modeling, NASA satellite observations, and Earth system models to reduce uncertainty in the representation of key climate processes.

Warm clouds play a central role in Earth’s radiation budget and water cycle, yet they remain poorly understood and challenging to simulate. Clouds are also a central source of uncertainty in climate projections, making improved cloud microphysics essential to CCSR’s broader goal of advancing next-generation models of clouds and atmospheric processes, from process-scale understanding to global Earth system applications. A key reason is that cloud and precipitation processes span a vast range of scales, from the microphysics of individual particles to the planetary-scale dynamics of Earth’s general circulation. The ARS will address two fundamental challenges that arise from this complexity: how to tractably represent the population statistics of cloud and precipitation particles in models and how microphysical processes couple to macroscale cloud properties and evolution, including precipitation initiation.

The successful candidate will develop and evaluate microphysics parameterizations using a hierarchy of model frameworks, from high-resolution process models to global ESM simulations, guided by observational data from field campaigns and satellite platforms. This work will connect directly to CCSR’s dual advantage at the intersection of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies and the Columbia Climate School by integrating space-based Earth observations, process