Research Assistant (Tropical Wildfires)

Woodwell Climate Research Center•Falmouth, MA

14d•$50,000•Hybrid

About The Position

Woodwell Climate Research Center (Woodwell Climate) is seeking a Research Assistant to join its Tropical Wildfire team. This role will support research on wildfire, deforestation, forest degradation, and climate change in tropical ecosystems, with a focus on the Amazon and Cerrado biomes. The position involves conducting spatial, statistical, and data-intensive analyses, and collaborating with scientists, researchers, and external partners in the United States and Brazil. The project aims to assess fire occurrences in standing forests, analyze impact variations across land-tenure and governance contexts, and identify institutional responsibilities for prevention, enforcement, preparedness, and response. The role will also contribute to a broader research portfolio on tropical ecosystems and climate impacts, utilizing contemporary AI tools for analysis and synthesis.

Requirements

Geospatial data processing and analysis using relevant programming environments and analytical tools.
Proficiency in R for data management, statistical analysis, and scientific visualization.
Proficient using GIS software such as QGIS or ArcGIS.
Ability to work with large, complex, and heterogeneous spatial and tabular datasets.
Data-quality assurance, reproducible research, metadata, and analytical documentation.
Strong quantitative reasoning, critical-thinking, problem-solving skills, identify errors, evaluate assumptions, assess uncertainty, and troubleshoot analytical workflows.
Ability to learn and apply new analytical methods, datasets, and software tools, manage multiple tasks, prioritize effectively, and meet project deadlines.
Strong written and verbal communication skills.
Work independently on co-defined analytical tasks and collaboratively within an interdisciplinary research team.
Engage professionally and constructively with research partners and practitioners from different institutional and cultural contexts.
Demonstrated interest in climate change, tropical ecology, wildfire, deforestation, forest degradation, conservation, environmental governance, or related fields.
Bachelor’s degree in biological sciences, ecology, geography, environmental science, remote sensing, data science, or a related field.

Nice To Haves

Experience working with satellite remote-sensing data a plus.
Familiarity with tropical forest and savanna ecosystems, particularly the Amazon or Cerrado a plus.
Experience with land-tenure, governance, or fire-management data a plus.
Experience using Git or GitHub preferred.
Experience contributing to scientific or policy-oriented outputs.
Bilingual in English and Portuguese preferred.

Responsibilities

Support a project examining the exceptional 2024 wildfire season in the Brazilian Amazon.
Contribute to projects examining the environmental and human drivers of tropical fire, the effects of different disturbances, and opportunities to improve ecosystem protection and climate resilience.
Integrate spatial data on fire, land cover, land tenure, jurisdiction, and institutional responsibility, working closely with researchers and partners involved in fire management and environmental governance in Brazil.
Contribute to a broader portfolio of research on wildfire, deforestation, forest degradation, ecosystem condition, and climate impacts across the Amazon, Cerrado, and other tropical regions.
Compile, organize, document, and quality-check large spatial and tabular datasets.
Conduct geospatial analyses related to wildfire, deforestation, forest degradation, vegetation dynamics, governance, climate, and ecosystem change.
Develop, adapt, and maintain reproducible analytical workflows using Google Earth Engine, Python, R, GIS software, and leading AI-enabled tools.
Maintain clear and well-documented code, metadata, data-management records, and analytical workflows.
Use contemporary AI tools to support coding, data analysis, literature synthesis, documentation, and problem-solving, while critically evaluating outputs for accuracy, bias, reproducibility, and scientific validity.
Explore appropriate applications of machine learning and other AI-based methods to environmental and remote-sensing analyses.
Integrate satellite observations, environmental datasets, administrative boundaries, and other geospatial information.
Perform statistical analyses and contribute to the interpretation of findings, including the evaluation of uncertainty, methodological assumptions, and analytical limitations.
Produce publication-quality maps, figures, tables, data summaries, and other research outputs.
Conduct literature reviews and synthesize relevant scientific evidence.
Contribute to scientific manuscripts, technical reports, presentations, proposals, and policy-oriented materials.
Participate in project meetings and communicate progress, results, analytical challenges, and methodological decisions clearly and concisely.
Contribute flexibly to additional research projects across the Tropical Wildfire programme as project needs evolve.
Work with Brazilian datasets, literature, and/or project partners.