OPS Temp Visiting Research Scholar - Civil & Environmental Engineering
USF University of South Florida · Posted Oct 16, 2026
- Tampa, Florida, United States
- On-site
- Temporary · Mid
- $53K–$53K per year
The Visiting Research Scholar will work on the coastal and compound flood modeling component of the Coastal Adaptation Platform (CAP), an AI/ML-enabled, human-in-the-loop decision-support system.
Compensation
Support: $25.48/hr. (53,000/yr.)
Responsibilities
- Set up, calibrate, and validate a 3D coastal storm-surge and circulation model for Tampa Bay and its estuaries, including tides, wind forcing, and river discharge.
- Couple coastal model outputs with HEC-RAS (overland and surface flooding) and SWMM (stormwater drainage).
- Build a library of representative Tampa Bay storm and flood scenarios to produce water-level and inundation fields.
- Contribute to the design of SSIF and the Tampa Bay CAP prototype, including data formats, workflows, and dashboard-ready outputs.
- Explore AI/ML approaches, such as surrogate modeling and scenario generation, that complement physics-based simulations.
Requirements
- Bachelor's degree in an appropriate field of specialization
- PhD in civil, environmental, coastal, or ocean engineering, physical oceanography, hydrology, or a closely related field
- Nice to have: GIS
- Nice to have: geospatial data processing
- Nice to have: data assimilation