Enhanced Rock Weathering Scientist

Major roles and responsibilities:

• Working alongside practitioners to get into the technical weeds of designing and implementing a measurement plan for an ERW deployment
• Designing, facilitating collaborations, and/or allocating funding for field trial studies that aim to answer the most critical questions on quantifying net removal and assessing human and ecological impacts/risks from ERW deployments
• Conducting meta-analyses and developing case studies that synthesize learnings from ongoing ERW field trials and early-stage commercial deployments—making maximally useful the data sharing system that Cascade is coordinating to build
• Developing useful technical documents and statistical tools that help practitioners implement robust approaches to ERW quantification and uncertainty propagation

Irrespective of the specific subset of projects you are working on at any given time, your specific responsibilities will often include the following:

• Managing and monitoring the execution of complex projects that involve multiple strands (both scientific and operational) 
• Building new individual relationships (e.g., with specific researchers) and organizational partnerships for Cascade
• Helping chart Cascade’s ERW strategy - identifying and prioritizing key gaps, and evaluating potential new initiatives
• Whiteboarding new ideas with colleagues and facilitating group problem-solving on knotty, substantive questions
• Interrogating how systems or projects could play out in the real world
• Leaning into conversations with partners who have questions about how some of the systems or projects Cascade is spearheading are playing out in the real world
• Reviewing and helping craft documents—to help Cascade colleagues or partner organizations—that need scrutiny or input from a trained scientist
• Representing Cascade as a participant in multi-organization meetings and various collaborations; attending relevant conferences
• Recruiting talented people to Cascade and/or to new systems or entities that we are helping establish
• Helping Cascade build and deepen its organizational culture, brand, and community trust

Desired Skills and Experiences

• PhD in soil-based (bio)geochemistry, geosciences, or related fields—e.g. know your way around cation sorption dynamics, secondary mineral formation in soils  
• Experience with measurement campaigns in soil systems—you have designed sampling plans and collected soil samples, and understand the challenges with field trials and control studies in agronomic systems
• A big bonus if you have direct experience with enhanced rock weathering deployments
• A big bonus if you have direct experience with geochemical modeling frameworks or statistical frameworks as applied to environmental science and soil contexts
• Track record of independently and effectively managing moderately or highly complex analytical projects
• Effective, eager networker and relationship builder
• Strong reputation as a scientific thinker and collaborator
• Skilled written communicator and group facilitator
• Strong aptitude for creative problem solving, and ability to make informed decisions in dynamic, evolving situations

More generally, we think this role could be a good fit if you are

• Excited about the sometimes-complex project management and stakeholder management involved in the kinds of system-engineer / market-shaping initiatives outlined above—and feel you could enjoy and thrive in a role with this flavor
• Consistently considered by others as humble, kind and empathetic
• Good at building new relationships across a wide variety of people grounded in trust and deep listening
• Comfortable working under uncertainty and a lack of any clear right answer
• Intensely curious, hungry and self-driven in your learning about new topics 
• An open-minded, flexible, and sharp thinker who thrives in highly collaborative problem-solving environments


If this broadly describes you, we think you’ll feel at home here, and will join a team of experienced and passionate people who will take great care to support you and your continued growth. No one will perfectly meet everything in the description above - we encourage anyone who is interested in this role to apply, regardless of whether you feel you meet 100% of the qualifications. We offer professional learning and training opportunities to help you develop skills you may not have had the opportunity to cultivate yet.