The EPA National Student Services Contract has an immediate opening for a full time Environmental Data Support position with the Office of Research and Development at the EPA facility Cincinnati, OH.
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.
What the EPA project is about
The Center for Environmental Solutions and Emergency Response (CESER) plans, coordinates and conducts an applied, customer-driven, national research and development program to improve decision making by EPA, federal, state, tribal and local agencies, when faced with challenging environmental problems in the built environment. Within CESER, the Water Infrastructure Division (WID) conducts customer-driven research and support, providing scientific leadership on national-scale problems associated with water quality in the built infrastructure.
What experience and skills will you gain?
WID has two particularly active research areas: drinking water distribution system issues and drinking water treatment systems for small communities. Research is being conducted to provide scientific information needed to support the Lead and Copper Rule revisions, including work on water chemistry, water treatment and corrosion control, and analysis of the morphology, mineralogy and chemistry characterization of water pipes. This research provides information to states and communities about issues that affect public health everyday.
How you will apply your skills
As a team member, you will provide data management and data analysis support to WID staff by completing the research activities described below:
- Compiling data contained in Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, photographs, jpg image files, ascii text files, etc. into a single format (typically, Excel or Access);
- Assisting with quality control of data;
- Assisting with literature reviews, gathering reference materials from textbooks, journals, libraries, the Internet, other researchers. Compile EndNote database of relevant publications;
- Performing simple statistical and graphical summaries of data, such as mean, median, sum, standard deviation, line graphs, bar charts, percent probability, and box plots;
- Developing scripts or macros/functions to provide reports on the data;
- Preparing tables, figures, and graphics for using software such as Microsoft Office, Sigma Plot, Origin, Adobe Acrobat, Python, or other similar tools;
- Assisting with formatting of reports, presentations and articles; and
- Interacting with EPA scientists and members of an interdisciplinary team.
You will perform duties according to specifications and instructions provided by the mentor. All necessary instructions and training will be provided by the EPA mentor.
Required Knowledge, Skills, Work Experience, and Education
- A working knowledge of relational databases;
- Proficiency with Microsoft Office applications (i.e., Excel, PowerPoint, Word and Outlook), desktop publishing; and
- Strong written, oral and electronic communication skills; and
- Experience with Python programming language.
Desired Knowledge, Skills, Work Experience, and Education
- Experience using commercial scientific graphics and statistical analysis software packages and Adobe Creative Suite; and
- Experience using Arc GIS.