Seeking Postdoctoral Researcher in Ground Motion Modeling | Apply now
Jill Elizabeth
~Sent on behalf of Dr. Valerie Sahakian~
Postdoctoral Researcher in Ground Motion Modeling
The University of Oregon seeks a postdoctoral researcher to join the Cascadia Region Earthquake Hazards Center (CRESCENT) – a National Science Foundation (NSF) funded research center that coordinates research, educational, and
community engagement activities surrounding earthquake science and hazards in the Pacific Northwest.
The postdoc will work closely with Dr. Valerie Sahakian, along with CRESCENT Ground-Motion Modeling Group members (see below), to develop
a systematic validation framework for the CRESCENT community velocity model (CVM), that leverages numerical ground motion simulations from both deterministic and stochastic approaches. The ultimate goal is to understand and quantify the impacts of uncertainties
in the CVM on physics-based simulation ground motion estimates, to inform the next generation non-ergodic ground motion models (GMMs) for Cascadia, and subsequently seismic hazard estimates.
The work will include (1) Generating a validation dataset of diverse and well-constrained earthquake sources and ground motion intensity metrics: (2) Producing suites of velocity models with perturbations informed by the CVM’s reported uncertainties, and performing suites of numerical simulations for these sources, and generating a wide database of ground motion residuals, and (3) Applying these residual populations to further investigate how such methodologies may be applied to fully non-ergodic GMM development; and propagating these uncertainties into hazard estimates to understand how velocity model uncertainty in physics-based simulations may affect hazard curves, by comparing with reported epistemic uncertainties from GMMs.
This postdoc will be part of a larger working group (the CRESCENT ground-motion modeling special interest group – GMM SIG, as well as community velocity model working group) focused on improving ground motion modeling for the region, will be co-advised by many of these members, and collaborate with USGS members. The postdoctoral scholar will also be part of a large and collaborative scientific community, and will have opportunities to interact with each other, will be expected to play a leading role in regular meetings, workshops, and the development of products across the broader project community.
GMM SIG members: Valerie Sahakian, Erin Wirth (USGS), alex grant (USGS), Karen Sung (UC Berkeley), Norm Abrahamson (UC Berkeley), Morgan Moschetti (USGS), Emrah Yenier (Haley Aldritch Consultants), Alice Gabriel (UC San Diego).
Appointment: Full-time salary per UO postdoctoral scale plus benefits. This position is a limited-duration post-doc with duration not to exceed one year, with a possibility of renewal up to a total of two years, depending on program needs, funding, and performance.
For consideration, please complete the online application for UO Earth Sciences Postdoc Scholar here: https://careers.uoregon.edu/en-us/job/535477/pro-tem-research-assistantassociatepostdoc-scholar-earth-sciences-open-pool. In addition to a completed online application, please send a single PDF with cover letter, CV, and three references to Valerie Sahakian v...@uoregon.edu. Review of submissions will begin October 21, 2025 and will continue until the position is filled.