PhD Position in Wildfire Resilience and Fire Modeling at University at Buffalo State University of New York at Buffalo in United States

A funded Ph.D. position is available in the Department of Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering at the State University of New York at Buffalo (University at Buffalo). The successful candidate will join Professor Negar Elhami Khorasani's research group, focusing on wildfire resilience and fire modeling. The research involves developing and validating comprehensive frameworks for simulating fire spread in wildland-urban interface communities and conducting wildfire risk assessments. The group’s work has been validated using data from major historic fire events, such as the 2017 Tubbs Fire, 2018 Camp Fire, 2021 Marshall Fire, 2023 Lahaina Fire, and the 2025 Southern California Fires.

Ongoing projects emphasize advancing wildfire modeling, improving community wildfire protection plans, and developing strategies for risk reduction and resilience. The Ph.D. student will have opportunities to contribute to cutting-edge research at the intersection of fire engineering and community resilience, collaborating with industry partners, government agencies, and communities to translate research into practice.

Preferred qualifications include a master’s degree in civil engineering or a related discipline (minimum GPA 3.5/4.0), a competitive GRE score (minimum combined 320), strong mathematics and problem-solving skills, proficiency in spatial data analysis (e.g., ArcGIS) and programming (e.g., Python), and familiarity with fire and wildfire modeling tools (e.g., Fire Dynamics Simulator, WRF-Fire).

Interested candidates should submit their CV and transcripts as a single email attachment to [email protected], using the subject line 'Ph.D. Application - Wildfire Resilience.' Additional information about the department and the research group can be found at the provided links. The position is funded, but specific funding details are not disclosed in the announcement.