GIS Support for the EnviroAtlas
The EPA Environmental Research and Business Support Program has an immediate opening for a GIS EnviroAtlas Support position with the Office of Research and Development at the EPA’s Research Triangle facility in Raleigh-Durham, NC.
What the EPA project is about
The Office of Research and Development at the EPA supports high-quality research to improve the scientific basis for decisions on national environmental issues and help EPA achieve its environmental goals. Research is conducted in a broad range of environmental areas by scientists in EPA laboratories and at universities across the country.
The Systems Ecology Division (SED) is one of the divisions of the National Exposure Research Laboratory (NERL) under EPA-Office of Research and Development. The Ecological and Human Community Analysis Branch (EHCA) in SED is leading the EnviroAtlas project under the Sustainable and Healthy Communities national program. EnviroAtlas is an online decision support tool that allows users to view and analyze the geographical distribution of ecosystem services supply, demand, and drivers of change at multiple scales across the country. Explicit relationships between human health and well-being and the provision of services will communicate a full accounting of how decisions affect communities’ progress towards sustainability under different scenarios.
What you will be doing
As a team member, along with guidance from EPA mentors, you will research and develop methods to measure relationships between human populations and indicators of ecosystem services. You will provide database management, data curation and extraction, quality control, as well as performing qualitative and quantitative data analysis. As a team member, you will be a member of a multi-disciplinary research team and will support the development, maintenance, and analysis of EnviroAtlas data, tools, and web applications for both national and community scale ecosystem service indicators.
Required Skills
- Demonstrated training and/or experience in geospatial data compilation;
- Prior experience with Python or R;
- Prior experience working with raster datasets (e.g., land cover, digital elevation models, aerial imagery);
- Experience working with U.S. Census geographies and data organization;
- Working knowledge of or willingness to learn and use version control(Git, GitHub, Bitbucket, etc.); and
- Experience presenting scientific methods and results to various audiences.
How you will apply your skills
Data Development and Analysis responsibilities shall include:
- Developing geospatial data pertaining to distributions of human population and ecosystem services;
- Developing and modifying analysis tools and models for creating geospatial data;
- Using Python, R, or other EPA approved software to develop scripts used in creating GIS data layers;
- Assisting with conducting quality control of GIS and ancillary data; and
- Compiling and summarize data processing into Federal Geographic Data Committee standard compliant metadata.
Communication related responsibilities shall include:
- Conducting literature reviews;
- Documenting code and database development efforts; and
- Documenting the development of spatial data layers in fact sheets.
Location: This job will be located at EPA’s facility in Research Triangle Park, NC.
Salary: The selected applicant will become a full time temporary employee of ORAU and will receive an hourly wage of $28.99 for hours worked.
Hours: Full Time.
Travel: Occasional overnight travel may be required.
Working Conditions: This position will involve work in an administrative setting and is not expected to involve exposure to hazardous elements.
The selected candidate will be supervised by a mentor who will provide day-to-day direction, as well as coach, advise and counsel the selected candidate, and review his/her work.
Expected Start Date: The position is full time and expected to begin in December 2019. The selected applicant will be a temporary employee of ORAU working as a contractor to EPA. The initial contract period is through May 14, 2020, with a potential optional period.
For more information, contact EPAjobs@orau.org. Do not contact EPA directly.
Qualifications
- Be at least 18 years of age and
- Have earned at least a Master’s Degree (MA or MS) in geography, ecology, environmental science, engineering, geosciences, or a related field from an accredited university or college within the last 24 months and,
- Be a citizen of the United States of America or a Legal Permanent Resident.
EPA ORD employees, their spouses, and children are not eligible to participate in this program.