Employment Opportunities

Purpose

The Reginald A. Daly Postdoctoral Research Fellowship is a prestigious fellowship offered by the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences (EPS) at Harvard University.  The goal of the postdoctoral fellowship is to enable recent doctorate recipients to pursue their research on an important Earth and Planetary Science question. The Reginald A. Daly Postdoctoral Fellow works with a faculty member in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences and their research group for two years.

Application Cycle 

Stay tuned for the next Reginald A. Daly Research Fellowship application window.

The Award 

The fellowship includes a salary of $85,000 with a research allowance of $10,000 per year, and $2,000 relocation cost for the first year. Information about benefits can be found on the Harvard Human Resources website. The Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences awards one Reginald A. Daly Postdoctoral Fellowship annually.

Selection Criteria 

  • The Reginald A. Daly Postdoctoral Fellowship is open to anyone with a doctorate degree awarded between May 2024 and May 2026, with a Ph.D. required by the July 1, 2026, start date.
  • Interdisciplinary projects are encouraged, but not a requirement for the fellowship.
  • Application packages and research proposals are carefully evaluated by a committee of EPS faculty. The proposed project should represent an independent line of inquiry that extends beyond the candidate’s Ph.D. work
  • Further considerations include the host faculty member’s enthusiasm for the project and the fellow.
  • A select group of applicants will be asked to further discuss their research proposal over video with the selection committee, the host faculty, and give a talk on their proposed work.

Finding a Host

Candidates should start early to identify and establish a relationship with an EPS faculty member to host their research. Applicants unfamiliar with EPS faculty members can familiarize themselves using the EPS website.
 

Reginald A. Daly 

Reginald Daly (1871-1957) was born in Napanee, Ontario, on March 18, 1871. He graduated from Victoria College in 1891, after which he stayed at the University of Toronto for another year to teach mathematics and acquire his S.B. degree. During this time, he came under the influence of geologist A.P. Coleman and decided to pursue graduate studies in Earth science. He entered Harvard University in 1892, receiving his M.A. in 1893 and his Ph.D. three years later. Postgraduate study took him to Heidelberg, where he learned thin-section analysis, and to Paris, where he studied with Alfred Lacroix. In 1898, Daly returned to Harvard to serve as an instructor in geology, a post he retained until 1901, when he began a six-year stint as field geologist with the Canadian International Boundary Commission. Returning to academia in 1907, Daly taught physical geology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for five years; he then accepted the position of Sturgis-Hooper Professor of Geology at Harvard. He retained this appointment until his retirement in 1942.

Beginning with his work at Mount Ascutney, Vermont (begun in 1893), Daly understood the importance of field studies in defining key questions about geologic processes. Thus, his exhaustive examination of some 400 miles of terrain along the 49th parallel led to a theory of the origin of igneous rocks. Similarly, his expedition to the Samoan Islands, funded by the Carnegie Institution of Washington, resulted in theories of the relationship of sea level, mediated by glacial effects, on the formation of coral atolls. As a member of the Shaler Memorial Expedition to the southern hemisphere (1921-1922), Daly mapped St. Helena and the Ascension Islands, visited South Africa, and contributed to understanding the stratigraphy of the region.

Daly’s field studies also stimulated his theoretical speculations about rock mechanics and led to new questions about the Earth and its dynamic processes. He used these insights to significant effect in the classroom, thus inspiring the next generation of Earth scientists, notably, petrologist Norman Bowen. Daly also developed many fruitful collaborations with scientists in other research areas. For instance, to understand the physical properties of rocks and rock melts, he worked with physicist Percy Bridgman at Harvard and with high-pressure researchers at the Geophysical Laboratory in Washington. He also wrote and lectured widely, sharing his views and enthusiasm with students and the public alike. His textbook, “Igneous Rocks and Their Origin,” appeared in 1914 and remained a staple for college instruction for many years.

For this diverse body of work, Daly received many honors, including honorary degrees from the University of Heidelberg, the University of Chicago, and Harvard University, as well as membership in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1909), the American Philosophical Society (1913), and the National Academy of Sciences (1925). He received the Penrose Medal from the Geological Society of America in 1935 and, despite his protestations of unworthiness, the William Bowie Medal from the American Geophysical Union in 1946. In his acceptance speech for the latter, Daly claimed to be a “tireless advocate of cooperation in Earth science,” and it is this breadth of vision and commitment to synthesis that defines his reputation today. He died in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on September 19, 1957.

Biography courtesy of Robert M. Hazen, Carnegie Institution of Washington.

Current Daly Fellows

Ethan Kyzivat
Reginald A. Daly Postdoctoral Research Fellow: 2023-2025 
PhD, Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences, Brown University 

Xiyuan Bao
Reginald A. Daly Postdoctoral Research Fellow: 2024-2026 
PhD, Geophysics, University of California, Los Angeles 

Previous Daly Fellows 

Becky Alexander 
Reginald A. Daly Postdoctoral Research Fellow: 2003-2005 
PhD, Atmospheric Chemistry, University of California, San Diego

Lydia Bailey 
Reginald A. Daly Postdoctoral Research Fellow: 2023-2025 
PhD, Geosciences and Hydrology, University of Arizonia 
 
William Boos 
Reginald A. Daly Postdoctoral Research Fellow: 2008-2010 
PhD, Atmospheric Science, MIT 

Matija Cuk 
Reginald A. Daly Postdoctoral Research Fellow: 2008-2009 
PhD, Astronomy and Space Sciences, Cornell University 

Eric Dunham 
Reginald A. Daly Postdoctoral Research Fellow: 2005-2007 
PhD, Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara 

Helge Gonnermann 
Reginald A. Daly Postdoctoral Research Fellow: 2005-2006 
PhD, Geophysics, University of California, Berkeley 

Giampiero Iaffaldani 
Reginald A. Daly Postdoctoral Research Fellow: 2008-2010 
PhD, Geophysics, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich 

Sigurjón Jónsson 
Reginald A. Daly Postdoctoral Research Fellow: 2002-2003 
PhD, Geophysics, Stanford University 

Brendan Meade 
Reginald A. Daly Postdoctoral Research Fellow: 2004-2005 
PhD, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, MIT 

Dylan Millet 
Reginald A. Daly Postdoctoral Research Fellow: 2005-2007 
PhD, Atmopheric Chemistry, University of California, Berkely 

Anna Mittelholz 
Reginald A. Daly Postdoctoral Research Fellow: 2022-2023 
PhD, Geophysics, University of British Columbia  

Taylor Perron 
Reginald A. Daly Postdoctoral Research Fellow: 2007-2008 
PhD, Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of California, Berkeley 

David Schecter 
Reginald A. Daly Postdoctoral Research Fellow: 2002-2003 
PhD, Physics, University of California, San Diego

Gaia Stucky de Quay 
Reginald A. Daly Postdoctoral Research Fellow: 2021-2023 
PhD, Earth and Planetary Sciences, Imperial College London

From time to time, the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Harvard University seeks to fill postdoctoral positions in the broadly defined areas of atmospheric and climate studies, biogeochemistry, geochemistry, geophysics, and planetary science.

Please forward a letter of interest and CV to Kathleen McCloskey by email as a single pdf file at kmccloskey@fas.harvard.edu or by mail at 20 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA 02138.

We are an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, gender identity, sexual orientation, pregnancy and pregnancy-related conditions or any other characteristic protected by law.

HUCE created the Environmental Fellows program to enable recent doctorate recipients to use and expand Harvard’s extraordinary resources to tackle complex environmental issues. Fellows work for two years with Harvard faculty members in any school or department to form a community of researchers that strengthens connections across the University.

Visit the Website

The EPS department believes that hands-on research is an unparalleled experience for undergraduates and allocates funding for students to work in labs and research groups during the school year and summer. To learn more about undergraduate job opportunities, which involve working in the lab of an EPS faculty member, please email Campbell Halligan at campbellhalligan@fas.harvard.edu.

We are an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, gender identity, sexual orientation, pregnancy and pregnancy-related conditions or any other characteristic protected by law.