Intern - NASA Goddard Applied Sciences Lab
Science Systems and Applications Inc (SSAI) is looking for an Intern to work remotely for the NASA Applied Sciences Lab in Spring of 2021.
Description:
From hurricanes to wildfires, the impact of climate on the health and well-being of Americans is significant and expected to increase. NASA produces a wealth of free, publicly available climate and weather data that is relevant to environmental health applications, but it is formatted in a way that is inaccessible for most public health professionals. The goal of this internship is to overcome this barrier by bringing NASA climate and weather data into the US Centers for Disease Control’s (CDC) online environmental data portal, the Environmental Public Health Tracking Network. Once in the data portal, NASA data can be downloaded in file formats and on spatial grids that are standard for health applications, and easily paired with existing health data on the same geo-temporal scale. The intern will work collaboratively with NASA and the CDC to bring select variables from existing NASA MERRA-2 output (e.g., PM2.5, temperature, rainfall) into CDC’s data portal and develop software to ingest future MERRA-2 data as it becomes available. The intern will also help translate MERRA-2 documentation for health audiences and generate content for a virtual Applied Remote Sensing Training (ARSET).
Internship duration:
10 weeks, beginning in late-March or early-April 2021
This is a 100% virtual internship.
Required Qualifications:
- BS and currently enrolled in Masters or PhD program in Atmospheric Science, Physical Science, or Engineer, etc.
- Proficiency in the following:
- Python(proficient – intermediate)programming
- Geographical Information Systems (GIS) is desired
- Microsoft Office (Word, PowerPoint, Excel)
- Experience in the following:
- Reading and writing large netCDF files
- Working with large datasets
- Excellent communication skills
- Completed coursework in climate and health
Equipment and software needs:
- Intern will need access to his/her own computer, internet, email, and have Python 3 with the Anaconda distribution installed.
Desired Qualifications:
- MS or PhD in Atmospheric Sciences, Physical Sciences, Engineering or relevant field.
- Experience working with climate/health data sets