Research Scientist

Number of employees

40

San Francisco, United States

Posted on: 2024-12-20

Category: carbon

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Employment type:

Full time

Experience required:

Intermediate

Salary

Salary not provided

About the company:

Over millions of years, silicate rock weathering has regulated Earth’s climate. By crushing silicate rocks and spreading them on agricultural soils - an approach called Enhanced Rock Weathering (ERW) - we can accelerate Earth’s natural process into a solution capable of addressing the urgency of climate change.

Existing agricultural and silicate rock sites - namely 5,000+ global silicate rock quarries surrounded by agricultural land - have the potential to remove billions of tonnes of CO2 with enhanced rock weathering. Despite this potential, ERW hasn’t scaled given the extraordinary scientific, technological, and operational challenges involved. Terradot, founded out of the Stanford ecosystem, is addressing these challenges by advancing the science, building the technology, and assembling the coalition needed to make this potential a reality.

We’ve started in Brazil – one of the world’s most optimal locations for ERW thanks to its tropical soils, strength in agriculture, and clean electricity grid. There, we are building the most ambitious ERW hub to date. This hub will drive the necessary breakthroughs in ERW science, ensuring every tonne of carbon dioxide removed is measured and tracked with certainty. 

These insights will power digital tools for the optimization and verification of carbon removal projects, enabling the replicability of these hubs globally If successful, this approach will uniquely and rapidly catalyze global-scale carbon removal, enabling the transformation of [300] such quarries in Brazil and [5,000+] global quarries into carbon removal hubs. 

Terradot has assembled a growing team of leading scientists and engineers with decades of published research (over 100,000 citations on ERW) and hands-on expertise in related fields, providing unmatched experience to drive advancements in ERW.

We are seeking a highly motivated research scientist to join our growing team. As a key member of the Research and Development team, the successful candidate will be integral to our work building the foundational scientific knowledge and developing the novel solutions needed to track and quantify the net impact (carbon, agronomic, and broader ecosystem) of enhanced rock weathering in the tropics. You will contribute to the development of our measurement, reporting, and verification (MRV) strategies and broader research agenda through analysis of datasets large and small, conducting comprehensive literature reviews, and chasing up targeted research questions. We are looking for a fast learner and strong communicator who is not afraid to roll up their sleeves and dig into messy datasets and tackle hard problems.


Role Responsibilities: 

  • Conduct rigorous data analysis and data manipulation.

  • Perform comprehensive literature reviews to inform research directions and project development.

  • Source, compile, and evaluate datasets, assessing their relevance and applicability to specific research questions.

  • Contribute to the development and execution of research projects, collaborating with highly interdisciplinary teams (e.g., geochemists, agronomists, data scientists, and modelers).

  • Apply first-principles thinking and (bio)geochemical principles to effectively solve complex problems.

  • Communicate research findings and technical information clearly and concisely through written reports and presentations.

Background and Requirements: 

  • Undergraduate degree (or equivalent experience) in a physical science field (e.g., geology, chemistry, environmental science) and 1+ years of cumulative work experience. Biogeochemistry experience is a plus.

  • Proven experience in designing and executing data analysis projects, with demonstrated proficiency in a coding language – Python preferred, but R or MATLAB also acceptable.

  • Demonstrated experience working independently on and managing research projects.

  • Strong analytical skills and a demonstrated ability to solve technical problems.

  • A curious and proactive approach to learning and research, with a willingness to dive into new challenges and find solutions.

  • Excellent written and verbal communication skills.

  • (Bonus) Knowledge of and experience working carbon dioxide removal or agriculture. 

  • (Bonus) Experience working with large spatial datasets and GIS analysis.

Personal Attributes: 

  • Mission-driven, with a passion for addressing climate change.

  • Strategic thinker who can balance short-term needs with long-term vision.

  • Highly collaborative, with a hands-on approach to problem-solving.

  • Ability to multitask and prioritize in a fast-paced environment.

  • A positive, action-oriented mindset with a focus on outcomes.


About Us: 

Our mission is to stabilize Earth’s climate by transforming nature’s most powerful permanent carbon removal process into a global climate solution. By advancing science, building technology, and assembling a global coalition, we are catalyzing a global initiative to scale Enhanced Rock Weathering within the next decade, starting in Brazil. 

Founded out of the Stanford University ecosystem, Terradot is led by the world’s leading experts to advance the science and technology of ERW. Our unique structure bridges industry, academia, and government and allows our team to contribute with speed & scale. We are backed byJohn Doerr, Sheryl Sandberg & Tom Bernthal, George Roberts, Microsoft’s Climate Innovation Fund, Google, Cisco and Venture Funds, Floodgate, Kleiner Perkins, Acre Venture Partners, Gigascale Capital, Valor Capital, Ponderosa Ventures and others.

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. Research suggests that qualified people from historically marginalized groups may self-select out of opportunities if they don't meet 100% of the job requirements. We encourage individuals who believe they have the skills necessary to thrive to apply for this role.

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Number of employees

40

Full time
Carbon
Terradot logo
Brazil