Postdoctoral Fellow – CO2 Mobility and Subsurface Transport in Nanoporous Rocks Full-time

Postdoctoral Fellow – CO2 Mobility and Subsurface Transport in Nanoporous Rocks

This is for a one-year, in-person position at the J.J. Pickle Research Campus in North Austin.

The successful candidate will join an elite, fast-moving, and tightly integrated research cohort at the Bureau of Economic Geology (BEG), Jackson School of Geosciences, UT Austin. We are a small but exceptionally strong team dedicated to pioneering innovative experimental and modeling techniques that bridge the gap between laboratory-scale physics and field-scale implementation. Our mission centers on developing next-generation solutions for energy security, efficiency, and sustainability.

This position is backed by robust, newly secured project funding. This position offers a premier opportunity for an ambitious researcher to publish high-impact science, develop highly sought-after expertise in complex subsurface fluid transport, and collaborate directly with leading industry and federal stakeholders. We provide a rigorous, supportive environment designed to launch successful careers in both advanced industrial R&D and academic leadership.

The primary objective of this role is to quantify and simulate the complex transport dynamics, mobility, and structural interactions of gases and fluids confined within tight, stressed reservoir matrices of shale rocks (unconventional reservoirs). This role combines rigorous laboratory operations (measuring effective permeability, diffusion, and adsorption) in rock samples with nano-Darcy permeability with analytical or numerical modeling to investigate how dynamic stress-sensitivity governs macro-scale reservoir performance.

Responsibilities:

• Core Transport Experiments: Operate and modify advanced gas expansion/liquid transient flow systems to measure CO2 (gas and supercritical phase) mobility, effective permeability, molecular diffusion, and adsorption.
• Geomechanical & Stress Evaluation: Quantify rock-fluid interactions and transport degradation under dynamic net confining stress environments to evaluate reservoir stress-sensitivity.
• Compositional Reservoir Simulation: Upscale laboratory-derived petrophysical, diffusion, relative permeability, and stress-dependent parameters into compositional reservoir models to perform robust sensitivity and production forecast studies.
• Strategic Integration: Work closely with the lab formulation team to translate fluid-interface mechanics into numerical transport constraints, preparing technical frameworks for upcoming field-scale pilot deployments.

Required Qualifications

• PhD in Petrophysics, Petroleum Engineering, Geomechanics, Chemical Engineering, Geosciences, or a closely related geosystems discipline.
• Proven experimental expertise in high-pressure core experiments, petrophysical measurements (effective permeability, porosity), or fluid transport phenomena.
• Deep fundamental understanding of fluid transport mechanisms in tight/unconventional formations (diffusion, adsorption, Darcy vs. non-Darcy flow).
• Strong capability in data analysis, scripting, or laboratory automation (Python, MATLAB, or LabVIEW).

PhD must have been obtained within 3 years from date of hire.

Preferred Qualifications

• Extensive proficiency with commercial compositional reservoir simulators (e.g., CMG GEM, ECLIPSE) and a proven track record of history-matching laboratory core-floods.
• Experience or strong fundamental training in Geomechanics (stress-strain relationships, fracture conductivity, or rock mechanics).
• Experience utilizing digital rock physics, image analysis, or CT scanning to evaluate multi-phase flow displacement.

Salary Range

$65,000+ depending on qualifications

Working Conditions:

• May work around chemical fumes
• May work around chemicals
• May work around standard office conditions
• Repetitive use of a keyboard at a workstation
• Use of manual dexterity
• Occasional weekend, overtime, and evening work to meet deadlines
• Occasional travel intrastate, interstate, and international
• Occasional fieldwork as necessary

Required Materials:

• Resume/CV
• 3 work references with their contact information; at least one reference should be from a supervisor
• Letter of interest