Reducing human health risk and exposure to wastewater spills in coastal environments

About the NASA Postdoctoral Program

The NASA Postdoctoral Program (NPP) offers unique research opportunities to highly-talented scientists to engage in ongoing NASA research projects at a NASA Center, NASA Headquarters, or at a NASA-affiliated research institute. These one- to three-year fellowships are competitive and are designed to advance NASA’s missions in space science, Earth science, aeronautics, space operations, exploration systems, and astrobiology.

Description

The San Diego County Board of Supervisors recently declared that “pollution from the Tijuana River Valley [is] a public health crisis,” having led to 295 and 160 days of beach closures in Border Field State Park and Imperial Beach, CA, in 2020. In a 2017 case study, it was estimated that nearly 4% of 864,000 swimmers at San Diego beaches were sickened by a south-swell driven plume event containing massive amounts of untreated wastewater (Feddersen et al 2021). County of San Diego’s Health Department (DEHQ) works to protect beachgoers while preventing unnecessary closures that could negatively affect their beach tourism economy. This project will explore ways in which remote sensing can be used to improve understanding of Tijuana River plumes and enhance this decision process of DEHQ to protect public health.

Location

Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Pasadena, California

Field of Science

Earth Science

Advisors

• Christine Lee
  Christine.M.Lee@jpl.nasa.gov
  818-354-3343

Qualifications

• U.S. Citizenship
  U.S. Lawful Permanent Resident (LPR)
  Foreign Nationals eligible for an Exchange Visitor J-1 visa status
  Applicants for LPR, asylees, or refugees in the U.S. at the time of application with 1) a valid EAD card and 2) I-485 or I-589 forms in pending status

Skills

• Remote Sensing
  Data Analysis
  Public Health Research

Benefits

• One- to three-year fellowship
  Competitive salary
  Opportunities for professional development and networking
  Access to cutting-edge research facilities and resources

Pay

TBD

Schedule

TBD

Benefits

• Health insurance
  Retirement plan
  Professional development opportunities

Contact Information

For questions about this opportunity, please email npp@orau.org.

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