Oak Ridge National Laboratory - Oak Ridge, TN
posted 5 months ago
As a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science national laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) has a rich history of over 80 years dedicated to solving some of the nation's most pressing challenges. With a workforce of more than 6,000 individuals, ORNL is committed to fostering a diverse, equitable, inclusive, and accessible (DEIA) environment that encourages a variety of ideas and perspectives. This commitment is essential for fulfilling ORNL's mission to accelerate scientific discoveries and translate them into solutions for energy, environmental, and security issues facing the nation. We are currently seeking a Research Scientist to join our newly established Spatial Statistics group. This group is focused on developing and applying advanced statistical and mathematical solutions to complex, interdisciplinary problems that impact national security. The role emphasizes the advancement of novel capabilities and systems within operational environments that require high-performance computing (HPC) and automated workflows. The application domains for this position include population dynamics, climate security, public and environmental health, sociocultural and economic trend analysis, built environment attribution, secure transportation, nuclear nonproliferation, change detection, and formal protections against privacy attacks and other forms of geoassurance. The methods employed by the Spatial Statistics group are diverse, encompassing applied mathematics, deep learning (DL), machine learning (ML), probability modeling, Bayesian reasoning, quantum computing, spatial statistics, spatio-temporal modeling, decision support, and data mining. The problems tackled often arise from “big data” environments, but many applications must also deal with sparse or noisy data. This necessitates creative approaches such as multi-modal inference linkages and subject matter elicitation to estimate key endpoints under uncertainty. The capabilities developed by the group are crucial for supporting situational awareness and decision-making processes in real operational settings. A key asset for this role is the ability to envision, develop, and effectively communicate complex analytical methods to non-technical collaborators. As a Research Scientist, you will have the opportunity to engage directly in your own research, publish in peer-reviewed journals and conferences, serve within professional societies, and develop your professional profile and network both nationally and internationally. You will also help coordinate research efforts across the group, ensuring alignment with customer needs while advancing the state of the art.