Scientists in Park Intern: Water Quality Data Visualization (1 year)

The National Park Service's Midwest Region Inventory and Monitoring (I&M) Networks are looking for a paid 'Scientists in Parks' intern who will help us develop computer code for data visualization. The position will start 10/1/2022 and run through September 30 2023 (flexible start and end), the deadline for application is June 12th 2022 11:59 PM EDT.

I&M networks collect long-term ecological monitoring data on species and environmental processes that are sentinels for environmental change. These data are analyzed and used by national park natural resource managers to make science-based resource management decisions. By hiring you as a ‘Scientist In Parks’ (SIP) intern, we hope to leverage your expertise in data visualization to accelerate our delivery of accurate and timely water quality (and potentially other) data to park management and the public. As a SIP Intern, you will work with NPS staff to apply your expertise in coding to create reporting and visualization tools. In this position you will have an opportunity to explore new methods and environments for data visualization while further developing your programming and project management skills. Day to day tasks will involve writing code to retrieve water quality data from online repositories and creating reports or dashboards. Ideally, these documents will be generated or hosted in an online visualization environment. To accomplish this you will need experience in one or more of the following languages: R/R markdown, Microsoft PowerBI, Tableau, or another language with comparable data visualization options. You will work closely with I&M scientists to accomplish those goals. Ultimately, your internship will be an opportunity for you to make a lasting and meaningful contribution to natural resource management in the national parks served by the three I&M Networks in the Midwest Region.

The Great Lakes Inventory and Monitoring Network (GLKN), Heartland Network (HTLN), and Northern Great Plains Network (NGPN) are subunits of the National Park Service Inventory and Monitoring (I&M) Program, responsible for monitoring ecological ‘vital signs’ in 37 national park units located in 13 states within the Midwest Region (ND, SD, NE, KS, MN, MI, WI, IN, IA, MO, AR, OH, and IL). ‘Vital signs’ are environmental indicators that help us determine if the ecosystems within our National Parks are healthy. HTLN and GLKN have been monitoring water quality vital signs since approximately 2004 and 2006, respectively. NGPN has been monitoring water quality since 2013. Inland lakes, large rivers, prairie streams, and springs are the signature features of our parks. This position will be based at either GLKN in Ashland, WI or at HTLN in Republic, MO - remote work options can be discussed. The position will start after 10/1/2022 and end before September 30 2023 (start and end dates flexible within that window). Upon successful completion of the internship, you will earn Public Land Corps (PLC) noncompetitive hiring authority. The deadline for application is June 12, 2022. To find out more and apply, please see the online announcement: https://rock.geosociety.org/eo/viewJob.asp?jobID=3387 . If you have questions about the position or the application process please contact Rick Damstra (Richard_Damstra@nps.gov).