Water Quality Scientist - Blue Forest

Application Timeline: Rolling, position open until filled

Location: Remote

Reports to: Science Director

Direct Reports: 0

Salary: $90k-$115k, depending on experience

Travel: Up to 10%, primarily in the Western U.S.

Preferred Start Date: January 2025; priority application deadline 11/12/24

Employment Status: Full time

About Blue Forest

Blue Forest is a conservation finance non-profit founded in 2015 that is focused on advancing ecosystem restoration through scientific research, financial innovation, and collaborative partnerships. Since 2018, Blue Forest has managed investor capital through its flagship financial product, the Forest Resilience Bond (FRB), which deploys private capital to finance forest restoration projects to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfires. More recently, Blue Forest has also established Blue Forest Asset Management (BFAM), an investment management platform connecting investors to compelling, mission-aligned opportunities in a broader set of asset classes beyond FRB projects, such as private equity and private credit investments. 

Blue Forest is made up of an interdisciplinary team of scientists, engineers, foresters, finance, and communications professionals committed to the mission: “To accelerate ecological restoration through conservation finance, enabling climate resilience for ecosystems and communities”. Employees at Blue Forest are:

• Committed to Continuous Learning

• Driven by Collaboration

• Thoughtful Innovators for Impact

• Grounded in Science

• Passionate about Restoring Earth’s Ecosystems

As we grow and develop new financial solutions to pressing environmental problems, we are seeking to amplify and collaborate with those historically excluded in conservation finance. We recognize that a diverse, equitable, and inclusive organization is not only vital but also a key driver of strength, resilience, and success.

Position Summary

To increase ecosystem resilience in the face of increasing wildfire size and severity, there is a need for greater and targeted investment in natural landscapes and nature-based solutions. Blue Forest seeks a water quality scientist to develop and deploy quantitative approaches to understand the value of landscape-scale environmental management for water quality protection and enhancement across the Western U.S. and beyond. 

The Water Quality Scientist is a high-impact position that will work with both our science and project development teams and with external partners to help build the case for investment in active management of fire-impacted forests and watersheds, and post-fire landscapes. This role will require broad and creative thinking about the many ways that wildfire and landscape-scale management can impact water quality throughout the watersheds and water distribution systems and how those impacts can be modeled, especially in data-scarce regions. Most of the day-to-day work will be to perform scientific analyses, such as building or coordinating water quality models, in support of project development. This will involve evaluating the value of potential water quality protection from avoided wildfire and post-fire restoration, and communicating the results to diverse audiences. 

Being successful in this position will require the flexible application of your background, knowledge, and approach to a variety of conservation finance projects being developed at Blue Forest. The ideal candidate will have experience working with water or hydroelectric utilities on water quality science, in addition to a strong understanding of the interactions between wildfire and water quality. Excellent communication skills are crucial. While original research is not the primary focus of this role, there is an opportunity for the selected candidate, if they are interested, to submit papers for peer review based on the outcomes of their work. 

Responsibilities & Duties

Post-Fire Water Quality Prediction and Analysis: 40%

• Conduct comprehensive reviews of peer-reviewed and case study literature on water quality impacts from wildfire and wildfire risk reduction projects

• Develop benchmark metrics of wildfire impacts on water quality

• Determine available methods, tools, and techniques for quantifying water quality risk reduction and improvements from forest management projects

• Develop and build on the Scientist’s existing expertise in running models to demonstrate water quality risk from wildfire and how that risk could change based on forest management project implementation

• Develop communication materials for partners, investors, and public audiences around the water quality impacts of restoration

  • Interpret and synthesize findings for impact reporting, stakeholder presentations (utilities, state agencies, corporates, and others), and other applications

Project Development: 40%

• Research potential project partners including drinking water providers, hydroelectric utilities, and irrigation districts that are interested in water quality benefits of forest management

• Work collaboratively with the Blue Forest project development team, the Blue Forest science team, and external science partners to gather relevant data and information to support analysis of the project’s water quality benefits

• Using a range of approaches, analyze data from land managers, project planners, and external partners to quantify how the water quality benefits of projects accrue to specific potential beneficiaries

• Collaborate with the project development team and external partners to assess the economic value of water quality benefits, often interacting closely with water utilities to understand their perspective and interests

• Collaborate with Blue Forest science team and GIS team to prepare spreadsheets, maps, charts, and other tools to visualize analysis results for project partners and other audiences

Develop a community of practice: 20%

• Actively research and reach out to other water quality specialists, scientists, and practitioners to understand the state of the science and the available resources, tools, and partners available to support Blue Forest with water quality protection benefit analyses

• Remain current on new case studies, tools, and methodologies that link ecosystem and forest management to water quality protection

• Understand state and federal agency goals and funding opportunities around water quality issues

• Working with colleagues and partners, identify opportunities to improve current scientific knowledge, data, and tools to better leverage water quality benefits for conservation finance

• Collaborate with Blue Forest’s grant writing team to develop proposals that help advance the state of the science

Qualifications

• Experience: 5+ years of working directly with water utilities - employed at a utility or as an academic, non-profit, or consultant partner to utilities

• Technical Skills: Knowledge of and experience with measurement, monitoring, and/or modeling approaches to quantify water quality impacts, often framed as water quality protection benefits, from ecosystem restoration projects. Experience working specifically on post-fire water quality modeling is highly desired.

• Spatial Analysis: Experience with spatial mapping tools (e.g. ArcGIS, QGIS, R) to perform analyses and communicate findings

• Project Management: Ability to navigate ambiguity, prioritize workloads, manage projects, and communicate as part of a team working remotely

Desired Skills

• Strong communication skills to translate technical concepts to a non-technical audience

• Eagerness to work in a transdisciplinary environment, develop collaborative approaches, and value knowledge plurality (ecosystem services, social sciences, Indigenous and local knowledge)

Benefits

• 100% employer-paid health, dental, and vision coverage; subsidized coverage for dependents

• Access to a 401k retirement plan with a 4% employer match

• Starting 3 weeks paid vacation and 17 paid holidays; paid sick leave and volunteer time

• 3 months of paid family leave

• Employer-paid life and long-term disability insurance

• Access to Dependent Care FSA

• Public Lands Exploration stipend (reimbursements for visits to National Forests, county parks, etc.)

• Monthly Home Office stipend or co-working space provided

• Travel and partial dependant care costs provided for business travel

• Additional stipends for health & wellness; home internet and cell service

• Financial support for professional development
  

Additional Information

Blue Forest is a fully remote company with staff located across all four continental U.S. time zones. You will generally be expected to be online during Pacific Standard Time standard working hours in order to collaborate with partners and other team members. Blue Forest also hosts an in-person team retreat each year.

Covid Vaccine Requirement

All Blue Forest staff are required to be “fully vaccinated” against COVID-19, as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines that term. Proof of full vaccination shall be a condition of employment and must be provided prior to starting work, except where prohibited by law. Blue Forest is an Equal Opportunity Employer, and the company will engage in the interactive process regarding reasonable accommodations for candidates who cannot be vaccinated due to a disability/medical condition; a sincerely held religious belief, practice or observance; or a claimed exemption under applicable state law.  

Blue Forest provides equal employment and opportunities for advancement, compensation, training, and growth according to individual merit, without regard to race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy), national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, age, genetic information, disability, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected under applicable Federal, state, or local law. Applicants must have authorization to work in the United States.