Geographer

Summary

NIST works with industry and science to advance innovation and improve quality of life. We're looking for a Geographer to join our team

This notice is issued under direct-hire authority to recruit new talent to occupations for which NIST has a severe shortage of candidates.

Duties

If selected, you will play a critical role in two cornerstone NIST research programs:

(1) NIST Community Resilience Program (CRP)
(2) NIST Disaster & Failures Studies Program (DFSP)

These research programs provide science-based tools & measurement guidance to improve community resilience. The CRP develops science-based tools for communities, professionals, & researchers to assess resilience & to support informed planning & decision-making at the community scale. The DFSP uses authorities granted by the National Construction Safety Team (NCST) Act, the National Earthquake Hazard Reduction Program (NEHRP), the National Windstorm Impact Reduction Program (NWIRP), & the NIST Organic Act to assess building & infrastructure performance & emergency response & evacuation procedures in the wake of disaster & failure events.

Work will help bridge research in the CRP & DFSP. Focus will be on developing tools, methods, & executing field studies, leveraging GIS skills.
The successful candidate will develop data collection best practices for complex post-disaster field studies, & conduct engineering & social science research to advance disaster research. Focus is on technical support to multi-disciplinary statutory programs & research studies that include conducting analyses/assessments of the built environment, developing & implementing guidance/tools, engaging with stakeholders, & collaborating with government agencies & external organizations. Participation in field studies & technical investigations is relevant, including development & approval processes for field data collection instruments.

ZP-III Duties: You will develop, conduct, & report on research in fields relevant to CRP & DFSP:

• Develop data collection & synthesis best practices for community resilience & post-disaster field studies using current technologies & tools, including geospatial & GIS-based tools
• Conduct community planning &/or infrastructure analysis research, including GIS-based analysis
• Provide support to the DFSP :
  • Providing recommendations for updating standard operating procedures & criteria for safe field data collection studies
  • Develop/implement methods/practices to promote deployment team readiness & safety
  • Participating in organization of field response efforts following disasters & structural failures
  • Collecting and analyzing GIS-based disaster data
• Participate on deployment teams to collect data to characterize community performance & resilience & evaluate the technical causes of failures & damage
• Develop methods to characterize & evaluate the performance of communities & impacts of resilience actions on social, economic, physical & natural systems at the community scale for weather, climate, & other disasters, shocks, & stressors
• Prepare & present reports & peer-reviewed articles

ZP-IV Duties: You will be responsible for conducting systematic & independent research & providing technical leadership in the fields relevant to community resilience planning & disaster & failure studies:

• Provide technical leadership to develop data collection best practices for community resilience & post-disaster field studies, including use of GIS-based tools
• Lead the development of training on data collection technologies & tools for other NIST field responders to collect technical data
• Support the Director of DFSP:
  • Updating & executing standard operating procedures & criteria for safe field data collection
  • Leading analyses of GIS-based disaster data
  • Developing & implementing methods & practices to promote deployment team readiness & safety
  • Organizing field response efforts following disasters & structural failures
• Independently collect & validate data to characterize community performance & resilience
• Formulate & conduct independent community planning &/or infrastructure analysis research
• Conduct independent research to advance metrology of community resilience & disaster research or building performance
• Provide technical leadership & expertise, particularly in the areas of GIS-based tools & analyses
• Formulate novel methods to characterize & evaluate the performance of communities & impacts of resilience actions on social, economic, physical & natural systems for weather, climate, & other disaster shocks & stressors
• Disseminate results through presentations & research & guidance documents
• Participate in national working groups and committees

The ideal candidate has knowledge of one or more of these technical areas: geographic information systems, field data collection, natural hazards, disaster resilience, risk mitigation, post-storm investigations, emergency response & evacuation, codes & standards, building damage, risk, social science, wind engineering, meteorology, coastal inundation, forensic sciences, structural engineering, fire protection engineering, earthquake engineering. GIS data collection & data analysis with ArcGIS is a preferred skill.

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