The EMLab at the University of Pennsylvania’s Weitzman School of Design is seeking applications for a full-time research associate as part of its role in the Natural Infrastructure Innovation Project (NIIP) funded through the United States Army Corps of Engineers’ (USACE) Engineering with Nature (EWN) Program. The Environmental Modeling Lab (EMLab) is an applied research unit of the Weitzman School of Design’s McHarg Center for Urbanism and Ecology, specializing in the analysis, simulation, design, and visualization of environmental systems. The EMLab is positioned to work productively with both academic and private-sector partners to expand the role of sensing, simulation, and modeling within contemporary landscape architecture practice, in addition to serving as a bridge between the design fields and infrastructural and ecological engineering.
The aim of the NIIP is to conduct design research into developing new forms of natural infrastructure in the nation’s bays and estuaries, determining which forms are most desirable, and increasing innovation in natural infrastructure design. To do this, the NIIP will engage deeply with EWN, local USACE districts, and a broad range of other stakeholders while utilizing landscape architectural techniques including fieldwork, mapping, iterative design, and physical and numerical hydrodynamic modeling.
The Research Associate will manage the day-to-day operations of the EMLab NIIP team’s work and will coordinate closely with the EMLab directors and other team members at partner universities.
The principal tasks and responsibilities of the Research Associate will include:

• Participation in and undertaking field-based research in project landscapes.
• Preparing drawings and maps that synthesize existing landscape conditions.
• Helping develop infrastructural design concepts inspired by natural forms and processes.
• Producing drawings and representations of design concepts.
• Reviewing scientific literature and other documents necessary for the research of infrastructural forms and processes, and the project landscapes themselves.
• Coordinating with team members across a multi-university project.
• Participating in and coordinating design workshops, team meetings, and stakeholder engagements.
• Preparing work for publication and/or presentation at conferences.
• Sourcing, formatting, and analyzing geographical data for regional and local landscape suitability assessments.
• Assisting with the building, running, and maintaining of physical and numerical hydrodynamic models, developed to understand existing conditions and to test design iterations.
• Master’s degree in Landscape Architecture or closely related field.
• Familiarity with software used for landscape architectural representation and analysis, including AdobeCS, Rhino, and ArcGIS Pro.
• Experience with or capacity to learn physical and numerical modeling methods used to study coasts, rivers, and estuaries.
• Excellent written and interpersonal communication skills.
• A demonstrated commitment to timely completion of deliverables and collaboration with a wide range of team members and stakeholders.
• Experience with nature-based infrastructure design and principles.
• Strong knowledge of landscape processes in coastal environments and the associated interactions between water, sediment, and vegetation in coastal landscapes.
• Evidence of a strong design sensibility that methodically balances aesthetics, cultural, and ecological values within complex landscapes.
• Experience with standard landscape research methods, and demonstration of the ability to develop novel research methods when necessary.

Applicants should submit a cover letter, resume, and design portfolio to Interfolio. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. The posting will remain open until the position is filled.
All questions should be directed to: Department of Landscape Architecture landarch@design.upenn.edu with "NIIP RESEARCH ASSOCIATE” in the subject line.
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