Ph.D. Student Opportunities
in groundwater and surface water interactions/water availability modeling under climate change at Oklahoma State University.
Job Description
We are seeking one or two highly motivated students to join the Ph.D. program of the Boone Pickens School of Geology at Oklahoma State University in the fall of 2023, spring of 2024 and fall of 2024. The research will focus on developing and applying numerical models of groundwater and surface water interactions to evaluate the climate change impact on the availability of groundwater/surface water to ensure sustainable development of southwest U.S. that experience exponential population growth and extended mega-drought. Other possible projects include numerical simulation of Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR) and risk assessment of CO2 storage in the subsurface.
The ideal candidates should have a solid background in physical hydrogeology/hydrology
and process-based, deterministic numerical models (supported by relevant courses and/or
publications). A strong interest in learning about groundwater modeling, watershed
modeling or climate modeling is a pre-requisite. Some scientific programming experience
with MATLAB, Python, or other script-based programming languages is required. Practical
experience with groundwater models such as MODFLOW (or other commercial simulators
such as COMSOL), watershed models such as SWAT, climate models such as GCMs, and water
right analysis models such as WRAP is desired, but not required. Advanced knowledge
about ArcGIS is strongly recommended. The candidate should feel comfortable working
independently as well as part of a team. Fieldwork involving sample collection and
in-situ measurement might also be needed. Once selected, the students are required
to publish peer-reviewed journal articles and present seminars at professional conferences
as part of the degree requirement.