Dangermond Fellow-Enterprise GIS

Overview

The National Audubon Society is a nonprofit conservation organization that protects birds and the places they need, today and tomorrow. We work throughout the Americas using science, advocacy, education, and on-the-ground conservation. Audubon’s state, regional, national, and international programs, nature centers, and chapters have an unparalleled wingspan that reaches millions of people each year to inform, inspire, and unite diverse communities in conservation action. As a sentinel species, we recognize that the fate of birds is inextricably tied to the fate of us all.

Audubon has more than 700 staff working across the United States and seven countries in 17 state and regional offices, 41 nature centers, and 23 wildlife sanctuaries. Together as one Audubon, we aspire to alter the course of climate change and habitat loss, leading to healthier bird populations and reversing current trends in biodiversity loss.

Audubon is committed to a culture of workplace excellence, where our talented and diverse staff are deeply engaged, with a strong sense of belonging. The birds Audubon pledges to protect differ in color, size, behavior, geographical preference, and countless other ways. By honoring and celebrating the equally remarkable diversity of the human species, Audubon will bring new creativity, effectiveness, and leadership to our work throughout the hemisphere.

Position Summary

The Dangermond Fellowship is an exciting, paid opportunity provided through the partnership between National Audubon Society and Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI). This prestigious fellowship is designed with the aim to foster the next generation of leaders in the enterprise GIS nonprofit/conservation sectors. A keystone of the program is to improve representation of underrepresented groups in the fields of GIS and conservation. Throughout the year, Fellows will receive extensive and immersive training in the full ArcGIS platform and have the potential to visit both the ESRI campus in Redlands, CA and Audubon’s headquarters in New York City, Covid travel policies and restrictions permitting. The position is a one-year commitment and starts in June 2023 until June 2024. Fellows will work full-time over the duration of the year. There will be opportunities to attend trainings, the ESRI User Conference, and spend time on GIS-related projects with the extended Audubon field, including travel as permitted safely. The goal of the program is to provide Fellows with exposure to enterprise systems, conservation, science, and applied technologies in a GIS department that is at the forefront of the GIS enterprise landscape. Experience with GIS server technologies, cloud servers, database management systems, application development, and account management will be gained through hands-on application of skills and knowledge with a professional team. Through the fellowship, Audubon wants to bring together individuals from diverse disciplines, including but not limited to computer science, cartography, human geography, physical geography, climate science, data science, remote sensing, and geospatial information science. As a Fellow, your potential to further GIS work in connection with Audubon’s conservation strategy will be a strong consideration during the selection process.

This includes:

• Advancing research in the field of geographic information systems and science applied to wildlife and bird conservation
• Supporting and gaining exposure to an enterprise level deployment for a hemisphere-wide organization including administering, responding to user needs, training, and managing enterprise data, maps, and apps
• Expanding and strengthening the relevance of geographic information science across Audubon’s network, especially in the intersection of GIS, conservation policy, climate change, coastal planning, and land use/cover change monitoring
• Promotion of effective and ethical use of geographic information data and technologies
• Building relationships around GIS science and applications in order to foster multi-disciplinary geospatial research and education across the Audubon network and key partners
• Integration of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging in all aspects of the Enterprise GIS team, work, processes, tools, and data
• Collaborating with a variety of teams in Audubon and generating data-driven, geographic insights to support the work of internal departments,

Applicants must submit a resume and cover letter to be considered.

Compensation:

$24.61 / hour

Essential Functions

• Under the supervision from the Enterprise GIS team, the Fellow will learn how to:
• Provide consultation and project management to create sustainable GIS solutions for complex issues that help Audubon meet its conservation goals.
• Train, educate, and empower users throughout the Audubon network while serving as the initial contact for a variety of GIS questions.
• Engineer and deliver GIS-based decision support tools (web & mobile maps/apps) to stakeholders, partners, and the public using the full Esri suite (including StoryMaps, Hub, Experience Builder, Survey123, Field Maps, etc.)
• Create Audubon-branded desktop and web GIS templates for use by the organization.
• Build tools using Python (including Jupyter Notebooks) and ModelBuilder to support geoprocessing services in applications.
• Present and discuss GIS concepts and projects to Audubon staff and partners.
• Create and publish web services, including authoritative data, maps, and apps using ArcGIS Enterprise and ArcGIS Online.
• Collaboratively perform analyses with various Audubon departments.
• Help to maintain existing data, maps, and apps created by past Fellows and Enterprise GIS team to ensure they continue to thrive into the future.

Qualifications and Experience

• Proven interest in the field of environmental science, wildlife conservation, sustainability, computer science, or ecology, demonstrated either through scholastic studies or prior employment or volunteer experience.
• Good interpersonal skills (empathy & sensitivity) and a desire to lead using an advanced GIS toolkit to solve conservation issues.
• Must have a strong understanding of cartography, GIS, and web GIS.
• Understanding of and ability to apply scientific analyses and models.
• Ability to effectively synthesize complex information.
• Ability to work independently and with strong time management skills.
• Strong organizational skills for developing project planning and developing project documentation.
• Demonstrated presentation skills.

Preferred Qualifications and Experience:

• Coursework or interest in enterprise GIS including geodatabase design, data management, ESRI APIs, geoprocessing, Python (including Jupyter Notebooks and ModelBuilder), server technologies, and SQL.
• Deep understanding of spatial analytical tools and methods.
• Experience in software development or programming especially in Python, JavaScript, R Statistical Language, HTML, CSS, and Arcade.
• Experience working with policy administrators to prepare GIS datasets for public release.
• Experience manipulating complex data into understandable visualizations.
• Experience with satellite remote sensing and/or drone imagery.
• Ability to read and/or converse in other languages (e.g. Spanish, French, Portuguese).

EEO Statement

The National Audubon Society is a federal contractor and an Equal Opportunity Employer (EOE). All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or protected veteran status. We are committed to a policy of nondiscrimination, inclusion and equal opportunity and actively seek a diverse pool of candidates in this search.

Accessibility Statement

The National Audubon Society endeavors to keep our careers site accessible to any and all users.  If you would like to contact us regarding the accessibility of our website or need assistance completing the application process, please contact Accommodations@audubon.org. This contact information is for accommodation requests only and cannot be used to inquire about the status of applications.

COVID Policy

All new hires must be fully vaccinated prior to their start of employment unless they are pre-qualified by HR for exemption.