Science Associate

IEc•Cambridge, MA

2d•$70,000 - $90,000•Hybrid

About The Position

Industrial Economics, Incorporated (IEc) provides consulting services for natural resource managers, regulators, attorneys, and other clients involved in public policy development and implementation. Its staff applies expertise in science, policy, economics, engineering, and data analysis and management to environmental and natural resource policy and management issues. The Science Associate supports natural resource damage and oil spill assessments, environmental impact analyses, remedial investigations, applied natural resource management, and restoration planning. The role includes environmental data management and analysis; ecological, biological, groundwater, and surface water assessments; contaminant source and pathway characterization; and evaluation of contamination extent and restoration options. Associates may lead data management and quality assurance for large environmental chemistry datasets, document reproducible methods, review remedial and technical documents, and draft technical and milestone deliverables. They work as members of project teams, complete independent work, and commonly direct and review junior staff work. The position is based in IEc’s Cambridge, Massachusetts office and requires working in the office at least three days per week, with optional hybrid work on the remaining days. The start date is immediate. IEc offers a salary of $70,000 to $90,000, commensurate with experience, and an annual performance bonus averaging 10% of annual salary.

Requirements

Master’s degree or PhD (or international equivalent) in ecology, biology, toxicology, geology, chemistry, hydrogeology, hydrology, or a similar field.
Demonstrated experience with data analysis in a scripting or database environment, such as Python or R.
At least one additional quantitative skill, such as GIS, geostatistics, relational database design, or other science-related proficiency.

Responsibilities

Gather, manage, and evaluate large environmental datasets.
Design and implement quantitative analyses using a variety of scientific methods.
Synthesize existing information and conduct GIS spatial analyses and statistical analyses.
Interpret and communicate results, write reports, and present findings.
Support natural resource damage assessments, impact analyses, field and literature-based research, restoration project planning, and monitoring.
Recommend modifications to approaches or methodologies to achieve project objectives.
Support ecological, biological, groundwater, and surface water assessments, including characterizing contaminant sources and pathways, evaluating the spatial and temporal extent of contamination, and identifying and evaluating restoration options.
Potentially lead data management and quality assurance for large environmental chemistry datasets spanning multiple media and data providers, documenting methods so work is reproducible and defensible.
Review remedial and technical documents as a primary source of site data.
Draft technical and milestone deliverables, such as study plans, data gaps analyses, and assessment and restoration planning documents.
Work in database and coding environments and spatial analysis software.
Contribute as a project team member, perform independent work, and commonly direct and review junior staff work.