Soil Modeler Jobs

Grassroots Carbon Public Benefit LLC offers nature-based soil carbon storage solutions based on regenerative agriculture. Nature based solutions address climate change, biodiversity loss, and food security. Regenerative agriculture on grasslands promotes the use of natural and holistic ranching practices that focus on soil health, biodiversity, and animal welfare. This can result in healthier and more nutrient-dense food. By improving soil health on grasslands, regenerative agriculture can enable a diverse range of ecosystem services such as carbon sequestration, nutrient cycling, and habitat for wildlife. Grasslands are highly efficient at capturing and storing carbon, making them a valuable tool in the fight against climate change.
Soil carbon credits are a way to incentivize the adoption of regenerative agriculture practices that promote soil health and carbon sequestration. Grassroots Carbon brings together thousands of ranchers and hundreds of carbon credit buyers, such as Nestle and Shopify, who are seeking to acquire high quality, measured and independently certified soil carbon credits. Across America’s hundreds of millions of acres of grassland, Grassroots Carbon has paid over $2 million to ranchers to date to restore soil health and to accelerate the Regenerative Agriculture movement.We are a team of soil scientists, ranchers, software engineers, entrepreneurs and more from a diverse array of industries, and backgrounds, including Amazon, Shell, Expedia, and Stanford University.
We are seeking to hire a Soil Modeller who will provide deep technical expertise in soil modelng to support the Grassroots Carbon business. The scope of the work is primarily the USA, with future opportunities for global expansion. You will be a key member of the Grassroots Carbon team, helping to deliver its goals and long term business objectives.
Requirements

• Develop new soil models or update the existing one.
• Support our operations team with carbon estimations and the provision of automated reporting on carbon projects for customers.
• Guide and support reviews of third-party soil models and the vendors of such models.
• Ensure model predictions meet verification requirements of soil carbon standards and methodologies.
• Build Grassroots Carbon scientific credibility by publishing the results of your work in peer-reviewed journals, technical reports, conference presentations, and patent filings.
• Develop partnership with internal & external stakeholders to address challenges related to soil modeling.
• Develop interface with modeling activities in other disciplines, such as climate, ecology, and plant research/farming system, and how to weave novel observation and measurement techniques into soil models.
• Calibrate and validate new models.
• Support the business in assessing, screening, and developing new project opportunities with ranchers and the regenerative agriculture community. Also provide expertise and solutions in the monitoring of the projects that are deployed.
• Ensure that Grassroots Carbon maintains a current and insightful position in soil modeling relevant to nature based solutions and the carbon markets.
• Ability to scale model predictions for business needs utilizing GIS by incorporating remote sensing data, gridded weather and soil data layers.
• Contribute to the marketing of Grassroots Carbon, develop content, based on science, to support advocacy with both ranchers and carbon credit buyers.
• Review upcoming methodologies in the voluntary carbon markets and support development of new methodologies.
• Identify key opportunities and challenges in modeling soil processes and functions, including the systematic incorporation of heterogeneity and uncertainty, the integration of data and models, and strategies for effective integration of knowledge on physical, chemical, and biological soil processes.

WHAT YOU BRING:

• Minimum five (5) years of experience working in relevant areas with ability to design experiments to test hypotheses, conduct independent research, and publish in peer-reviewed journals.
• Commercial experience of working in the Carbon credit market and the delivery of soil models to support the business
• Learner mindset, transparency and sharing data and lessons will be essential.
• Relevant experience in soils modeling research, models development, calibration, and deployment to measure soil processes and functions.
• You will bring deep technical expertise in the areas of soil modeling.
• Ability to deliver engaging presentations and stories to customers
• Familiarity with existing soil models such as SNAPGRAZE, MEMS, DayCent, or RothC.
• A PhD in soil sciences, agriculture sciences, environmental sciences, life sciences, or in a related field.
• Expertise with statistics, programming of modeling in python or similar and working with data scientists
• Interest in ranching, and interest in regenerative agriculture and the benefits of soil health.
• Excellent communication skills

Benefits

• Health, dental, and vision insurance plans, including a flexible spending account option.
• Educational materials and expenses (subject to management approval).
• Company-paid Life and AD&D coverage (with the option to purchase additional coverage).
• Open Paid Time Off Policy (subject to management approval).
• Participation in our 401(k) savings plan.
• Company-paid Short-Term Long-Term Disability coverage.
• 9 paid holidays per year as listed in our Company Handbook.

About Soilworks
Soilworks Natural Capital is on a mission to power the Regenerative Agriculture Revolution. We are a private equity fund that invests in, incubates, and acquires companies to help accelerate the Regenerative Agriculture movement. Our principles include better and healthier food, restoring plant and animal diversity, regenerating soil to store water and carbon, and creating more profitable family farms.
Soilworks was launched by the co-founders of Scaleworks, a technology venture equity fund based in San Antonio, TX. Their passion for the regenerative movement developed while building software companies using common-sense business principles. Soilworks is our effort to bring common-sense disruption to the food system – the most important market in the world.