Watershed Planning Program - Data Management and Water Quality Assessment Intern - UNPAID

Commonwealth of Massachusetts • Worcester, MA

1d

About The Position

The Watershed Planning Program (WPP) within the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) is seeking an intern to support its mission of protecting, enhancing, and restoring the quality and value of the Commonwealth's waters. This role will involve exploring data structures in the US Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Water Quality eXchange (WQX) portal, downloading and analyzing data, summarizing data characteristics, and assisting in the development of tools for data acquisition, review, and analysis. The intern will work with R scripts and potentially MS Excel to perform exploratory analyses and create summary reports with visualizations. Training on R and ArcGIS Pro will be provided. This is an unpaid internship designed for students or recent graduates seeking practical experience and may be eligible for academic credit.

Requirements

• NONE

Nice To Haves

• Excellent organizational skills
• Ability to meet deadlines
• Ability to work well both independently and as a member of a team
• Basic knowledge of the principles and practices of environmental science
• Experience gathering and tabulating data from a variety of sources
• Experience summarizing data into a usable format
• Ability to work independently and in an organized manner with strong attention to detail
• Proficiency with R and/or ArcGIS (preferred but not required)
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite (Excel) software
• Effective communication skills, in writing, in person, over Teams, and on the telephone

Responsibilities

• Explore data structures in the Water Quality eXchange (WQX) portal managed by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
• Download data from WQX.
• Perform exploratory analyses on data existing in WQX.
• Summarize data structures, types, and sources in WQX.
• Support the development of tools for data acquisition, review, and analysis.
• Learn WQX data structures through research of online materials and existing WPP documentation.
• Review the Massachusetts Consolidated Assessment and Listing Methodology (CALM) Guidance Manual to understand parameters and data requirements for water quality assessments.
• Utilize WPP R scripts to download data from WQX for review.
• Catalog all external data sources used by WPP for CWA decision making.
• Use the R statistical program and/or MS Excel to perform exploratory analyses of water quality data.
• Compare WQX data to information in WPP’s existing databases and storage systems (if time allows).
• Map WQX domains to WPP CWA assessment methodologies described in the CALM document (if time allows).
• Create a summary report of the results of all exploratory analyses, including visualizations, flow diagrams, and a narrative.
• Produce summary tabular data files for use by WPP in developing plans for upgraded review procedures and the transition to using WQX for external data acquisition and storage.

Benefits

• Outstanding suite of employee benefits that add to the overall value of your compensation package
• Work experience that supports you, your loved ones, and your future

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Part-time
• Career Level: Intern
• Education Level: No Education Listed
• Number of Employees: 5,001-10,000 employees