PREP0001489 Senior Researcher in Life Cycle Assessment

PREP Research Associate

Opportunity No.: PREP0001489

This position is part of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Professional Research Experience (PREP) program. NIST recognizes that its research staff may wish to collaborate with researchers at academic institutions on specific projects of mutual interest, and thus requires that such institutions must be the recipient of a PREP award. The PREP program requires staff from a wide range of backgrounds to work on scientific research in many areas. Employees in this position will perform technical work that underpins the scientific research of the collaboration.

APPLY ONLINE HERE

Senior Researcher Opportunity in Life Cycle Assessment

The position will collaborate with NIST researchers and NIST’s external collaborators in a variety of topics relevant to their work including economists, engineers, and scientists – connecting Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) to fundamental research, life-cycle analysis, and decision support tools related to activities across a range of research topic areas, building and infrastructure, circular economy, climate, sustainability, resilience, and decision science. Initial activities will include assisting on one or more of the following NIST activities: Low Carbon Cements and Concretes Consortium, LCA of Polymers (Plastics) to Improve Circularity, or Metrics and Tools for Sustainable Buildings. Additional projects may involve life cycle assessment of solar photovoltaic systems and electric vehicles.

The position is in the Applied Economics Office (AEO), a part of the Engineering Laboratory (EL) at NIST, provides economic products and services through research and consulting to industry and government agencies in support of productivity enhancement, economic growth, and international competitiveness with a focus on improving the life-cycle quality and economy of constructed facilities and manufacturing processes that support social and economic functions. The AEO is integrated within EL’s major research thrusts: sustainability, energy conservation, community resilience planning, manufacturing, fire, smart grid, building construction, and safety. The AEO delivers high quality research and tool development that informs and assists stakeholders in their decision-making processes.

Key responsibilities will include but are not limited to:

• Review, assessment, and improvements to NIST’s existing building product LCA data and decision support tools
• Review, validation, and analysis of dynamic operational electricity LCA data
• Literature review and assessment of the state of LCA in cement and concrete
• Categorization and exploration of the effects of key plastic additives on recycling/circularity potential and life cycle metric, and prioritization of additives for inclusion into plastic LCA datasets
• Identify research and data gaps in current LCA-related activities at NIST
• Draft research slide decks, reports, and/or journal articles
• Draft NIST research plan for improving LCA for a more sustainable, circular economy

Desired Qualifications:

• PhD in Engineering, Environmental Science, or related field
• 5+ years of experience (post PhD) in life cycle analysis research
• Experience with life cycle assessment of at least one of the following topics: chemicals, plastics, concrete, solar photovoltaics, batteries, building materials, or whole buildings
• Experience with life cycle assessment software, such OpenLCA, SimaPro, GABI, GREET
• Experience in solving complex problems
• Excellent writing and communication skills
• This position is open to participants from Bowie State University, Coppin State University, Morgan State University, North Carolina A&T University, Tuskegee University, and the University of Maryland Eastern Shore

Other Details:

• Full-time: the participant is expected to work 40 hours per week.
• Location: Hybrid - the participant will work both at the NIST Gaithersburg Campus and remotely.
• Duration: this is a one-year position expected to begin in November. Extensions are sometimes granted depending on the availability of funds.
• For questions related to the research project or the nature of the work in this position, please contact Dr. Joshua Kneifel (joshua.kneifel@nist.gov). For questions related to the online application or NIST PREP more generally, please contact Dr. John Brandau (john.brandau@morgan.edu).

Privacy Act Statement

Authority: 15 U.S.C. § 278g-1(e)(1) and (e)(3) and 15 U.S.C. § 272(b) and (c)

Purpose: The National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) hosts the Professional Research Experience Program (PREP) which is designed to provide valuable laboratory experience and financial assistance to undergraduates, post-bachelor’s degree holders, graduate students, master’s degree holders, postdocs, and faculty.

PREP is a 5-year cooperative agreement between NIST laboratories and participating PREP Universities to establish a collaborative research relationship between NIST and U.S. institutions of higher education in the following disciplines including (but may not be limited to) biochemistry, biological sciences, chemistry, computer science, engineering, electronics, materials science, mathematics, nanoscale science, neutron science, physical science, physics, and statistics. This collection of information is needed to facilitate administrative functions of the PREP Program.

Routine Uses: NIST will use the information collected to perform the requisite reviews of the applications to determine eligibility, and to meet programmatic requirements. Disclosure of this information is also subject to all the published routine uses as identified in the Privacy Act System of Records Notices: NIST-1: NIST Associates.

Disclosure: Furnishing this information is voluntary. When you submit the form, you are indicating your voluntary consent for NIST to use the information you submit for the purpose stated.