Research Scientist Intern, Heirloom
$38.75 per hour. $5,000 Relocation/Housing allowance paid upfront
Office located in Brisbane, CA
Direct air carbon capture
Be an early applicant
Direct air carbon capture
101-200 employees
Be an early applicant
$38.75 per hour. $5,000 Relocation/Housing allowance paid upfront
Office located in Brisbane, CA
101-200 employees
Company mission
To pull billions of tons of CO₂ from the atmosphere.
Role
Who you are
- Strong foundation in gas–solid reaction engineering, high-temperature materials, or related experimental research areas
- Knowledge of solid characterization methods (TGA, XRD, SEM, BET, ICP-OES/MS, XRF) and ability to interpret results in the context of process performance
- Comfortable working hands-on in laboratory and pilot-scale environments, including reactor operation, sample preparation, and troubleshooting experimental setups
- Ability to design structured experiments, identify key variables, and extract meaningful trends from complex datasets
- Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to connect experimental observations to underlying mechanisms
- You don’t have to have every listed requirement and skill to be a great fit. If you are passionate about this opportunity and think you have the skills to succeed, please apply!
Desirable
- Experience with calcination, cement/lime processing, combustion systems, or carbon capture technologies
- Familiarity with sulfur and carbonate chemistries, deposition or fouling behavior, or impurity-driven degradation mechanisms in high-temperature systems
- Background in reaction kinetics, thermochemistry, or process modeling
- Python, MATLAB, or similar tools for data analysis, visualization, or automation of experimental workflows
What the job involves
- We are seeking a Research Science Intern to join Heirloom’s Innovation Team for the upcoming Summer for a 12–16 week internship
- In this role, you will investigate how process-derived conditions influence key performance drivers in high-temperature gas-solid systems such as reaction efficiency, materials stability, impurity behavior, and overall process performance in a direct air capture (DAC) regeneration environment
- This is an opportunity for someone who wants hands-on ownership, exposure to research in an industry setting, and experience working in a fast-paced climate tech startup
- Design and execute experiments using lab-scale reactors, TGA, and pilot equipment
- Analyze gas–solid reaction data to extract kinetic trends, operational limits, and performance drivers
- Help define experimentally grounded metrics relevant to techno-economic analysis and process modeling
- Evaluate effects of operating conditions, impurities, and refractory or system interactions on materials performance and durability
- Investigate how variations in gas composition, temperature profiles, and solids handling influence calcination, carbonation, and related high-temperature processes
- Collaborate with lab technicians, scientists and engineers
- Document findings and present technical conclusions to the innovation team
Our take
According to the UN, in order to avoid climate disaster the world needs to both reduce carbon emissions and actively remove CO₂ from the atmosphere. Heirloom develops a technology to handle the latter, using limestone to capture carbon directly from the air and permanently store it - and in doing so delivering high-quality carbon credits for businesses to purchase.
Initially, the company stored captured carbon in underground deposits, but it now also boasts the ability to sequester CO₂ into concrete. This process, which was developed alongside its partner, CarbonCure, actually strengthens the concrete, which can then be used in all types of construction projects.
Crucially, because limestone is so widely available - and because the capture process is a chemical reaction - the process requires minimal land and energy. This allows the company to remain relatively low-impact in its operations, making its carbon removal credits more valuable. This has contributed to the achievement of Microsoft purchasing 315,000 metric tons of carbon removal from the company, in one of the biggest deals of its kind to date.
Steph
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Company
Funding (last 2 of 3 rounds)
Dec 2024
$150m
SERIES B
Mar 2022
$53m
SERIES A
Total funding: $204m
Company benefits
- Excellent health, dental and vision insurance covered up to 100% by Heirloom (FSA option)
- 16 weeks paid leave for all Heirloom employees, regardless of primary/secondary caregiver status
- Generous stock options
- Unlimited PTO for salaried employees & 80 hours for full time hourly employees
- 401(k)
- Monthly health and wellness reimbursement
- Robust annual education and conference budget, including airfare and hotel costs
Company HQ
Dogpatch, San Francisco, CA
Leadership
Shashank Samala
(Co-Founder & CEO)Previously founded Tempo Automation, a robotics and software company that raised millions in funding from venture capitalists.
Noah McQueen
(Co-Founder & Head of Research)Earned a PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania. Worked as a Science Advisor at Carbon Direct for a year.
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