Sustainability and Conservation Science Postdoctoral Fellowship

Sustainability and Conservation Science Postdoctoral Fellowship

Sustainability and Conservation Science Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania in partnership with The Nature Conservancy 

 

Application deadline for 2026: Friday, January 30, 2026

 

PROGRAM GOALS

This postdoctoral fellowship program aims to bridge the excellence in academic research at the University of Pennsylvania (Penn) and in conservation practice at The Nature Conservancy (TNC) to confront climate change, while creating a new generation of sustainability and conservation leaders who combine the rigor of academic science with real-world application.

Penn and TNC join in recognizing climate change as the single greatest environmental threat to humanity. Climate change is an issue that tightly integrates the health of the planet with the economy, access to clean and reliable energy, water, and food production, and equity. To tackle these challenges, our world needs science that blends climatology, physics, economics, business, chemistry, engineering, technology and communications with conservation and ecology. As well, it must marry the best academic research with opportunities for rapid testing and deployment in the real world to address human well-being.

The specific program goals are to:

  • Invest in the talent potential of a new generation of climate change leaders
  • Recruit scientists who bring a diversity of culture, experience, and ideas to Penn and TNC
  • Support innovative and impact-oriented research that helps deliver TNC outcomes
  • Provide the fellows and Penn research community as a whole with access to real-world conservation professionals and issues.

Postdoctoral Fellows will be supported annually with a $70,000 stipend and benefits, a $10,000 research fund, and up-to $2,000 for professional travel. A one-time relocation reimbursement of up-to $2,000 is also available. Fellows will be eligible for support for up-to two consecutive years.

For the 2026 round of applications, the project areas and Penn faculty/TNC Scientist mentor teams participating are:

Project Area 1: Coastal Adaptation Strategies for Stability in the Global South

Coastal regions worldwide sit on the frontlines of climate change. Sea level rise, storm surges, coastal flooding, and shoreline erosion are reshaping coastlines, displacing people and livelihoods, and intensifying competition over natural resources—pressures that are particularly acute in the Global South. Yet despite mounting urgency, we still lack systematic, comparable evidence on how individuals, communities, and institutions respond to climate driven ocean hazards, and which responses and adaptation strategies reduce risk, and avoid unintended social and ecological harms. 

We are seeking a computationally proficient candidate with expertise in either climate science, environmental science, social impacts science or data analytics to utilize Penn’s Machine Learning for Environmental Event Detection (MLEED) dataset and integrate it with climate/oceanographic datasets and TNC’s conservation planning tools. The goal is to generate and analyze evidence on climatic stressors and societal responses across countries in the Global South. The postdoc is expected to work in a multi-disciplinary team across oceanography, climate science and political science.

Mentor team: Prof. Irina Marinov (imarinov@sas.upenn.edu) and Dr. Nicholas Wolff (climate.science@tnc.org)

Project Area 2: Developing a Digital Twin of a Compound Flood Model for the City of Philadelphia

Ongoing research at Penn is focused on developing a physics-based, compound flood model to resolve water pathways through intricate urban landscapes during and after extreme rainstorms. We are seeking a candidate who would leverage advancements in AI and machine learning to transition this physics-based model into a digital twin replica, allowing for computational efficiency and expansion of rapid experimentation of “what-if” interventions, and laying the groundwork for a street-level flood forecasting system for Philadelphia. This work will be applied with the TNC Brightstorm team toward adaptive controls of urban stormwater.

Mentor team: Matthew Rea (matthew.rea@tnc.org) & Prof. Hugo Ulloa (ulloa@sas.upenn.edu)

Project Area 3: Assessing the Ability of Green Stormwater Infrastructure and Nature-based Solutions to Manage Nutrients, Toxic Elements and Emerging Contaminants in Urban Stormwater Runoff

Contaminants in stormwater runoff are a major component of Urban Stream Syndrome, which is leading to the degradation of water quality and ecological function in urban waterways. We seek a candidate to use smart monitoring and advanced laboratory analytical techniques (e.g., ICP-MS/MS, LC-MS/MS, fluorescence spectroscopy) to evaluate the potential for green stormwater infrastructure to remove toxic elements and emerging contaminants from urban runoff. The Nature Conservancy, the Water Center at Penn, and partners have been actively involved in implementing green stormwater management practices in Philadelphia over the last decade, allowing opportunity for data gathering. An ideal candidate would have a background in biogeochemistry, environmental geochemistry, environmental engineering (with a chemistry focus), or a related field, and have experience with analytical instrumentation, like LC-MS/MS and/or ICP-MS.

Mentor team: Lyndon DeSalvo (TNC PA/DE chapter; lyndon.desalvo@tnc.org) & Prof. John Hawkings (hawkings@sas.upenn.edu)

IDEAL CANDIDATE PROFILE

Ideal candidates for this fellowship are outstanding, early-career scientists or engineers who seek to improve and expand their research skills, while directing their efforts toward problems at the interface of climate, conservation, research, technology, and people. Applicants must have completed all requirements for their doctorate by the fellowship start date, and their PhD should have been awarded no longer than three years before the application deadline. Fellows are expected to begin their appointment by September 1, 2026.

HOW TO APPLY

Complete applications are due by Friday, January 30, 2026, and must include:

  • Cover letter (limited to 1 page). Applicants should describe their research experience, interests in research and conservation, long-term career goals, and illustrate how their previous experience strengthens their ability to develop and implement the proposed research.
  • Research proposal (limited to 2 pages; citations may be on a separate page). Applicants must engage in co-development of a research proposal with a Penn faculty member and a TNC scientist, and proof of co-development will be assessed during proposal review. Teams at TNC and Penn who are available to work with applicants, their contact information, and general research topics of interest are listed above. Be sure to copy Penn Fellowship at TNC (pennfellowship@tnc.org) on all your correspondence with prospective mentors, so that we may assist you in your collaboration as needed.The proposal should
    • highlight the research question of interest,
    • clearly articulate the research approach and methods,
    • outline the project’s scientific significance, and
    • demonstrate a clear potential for delivering results for The Nature Conservancy’s global priorities.
  • Curriculum Vitae
  • The cover letter and research proposal must be standard letter-size page, 1-inch margins, and at least 11 pt font.
  • The CV, proposal, and personal statement must be combined into one pdf file and emailed to pennfellowship@tnc.org by no later than 5 pm ET on January 30, 2026. Please use the subject “Postdoctoral Fellow Application [Your Name]” and name the pdf attachment “YourNameApplication.pdf”.
  • Three letters of recommendation. One letter must be from the applicant’s thesis advisor and comment specifically on the applicant’s ability to learn from and contribute to a multi-disciplinary and collaborative research environment. The other two letters should be from individuals well acquainted with the applicant’s PhD research.
  • A joint letter of support with mentoring plan from your proposed Penn and TNC mentors. Mentors should speak to the importance of the applicant’s proposed project to Penn and TNC, the role they will play in jointly mentoring the applicant through the project, and the leadership taken by the applicant in developing the research proposal.
  • The recommendation and support letters must be on letterhead and emailed directly to pennfellowship@tnc.org by no later than 5 pm ET on January 30, 2026.

Our Current Sustainability and Conservation Science Postdoctoral Fellows

Past Fellows

For general questions, contact: