Graduate (Year-Round) Intern: Geospatial Data Science Modeling and Analysis
Ora
Summary
The Geospatial Data Science (GDS) team within the Strategic Energy Analysis Center at the National Laboratory of the Rockies (NLR) is seeking a 6–12-month intern to support modeling and analysis. The GDS group conducts research at the intersection of energy deployment, big data science, and geospatial modeling and visualization. Our team of researchers develops and applies geospatial algorithms and methods to evaluate the deployment potential for energy technologies, including geothermal, hydropower, transmission, bioenergy, wind, and solar. Geospatial modeling at NLR enables detailed techno-economic assessment, capacity expansion, and power systems modeling of energy resources under a variety of regulatory, sociopolitical, and environmental factors from local to continental scales.
Job description
The successful intern candidate will support a large and diverse modeling portfolio with activities involving geospatial analyses, literature reviews, cartography, scientific programming, and tasks focused on data preparation, processing, and validation. This position will assist geospatial scientists in developing novel analytical solutions to complex challenges in energy siting, deployment, and adoption. Candidates should be interested in working in an interdisciplinary field, together with geospatial data scientists, software developers, and policy analysts, which will require excellent interpersonal and communication skills.
Duties Will Include
- Manipulating multiple data sources, models, and software tools with scientific and engineering workflows for decision support and data analysis
- Preparing and processing geospatial data using open-source desktop software and programmatic approaches
- Conducting background research on data sets, current modeling approaches, and existing tools
- Developing literature reviews under the guidance of research scientists
- Programming and scripting in Python to conduct analysis and visualize data
- Working in distributed computing environments including internal servers, NLR's high-performance computing (HPC) system and the Cloud
Basic Qualifications
- Minimum of a 3.0 cumulative grade point average.
- Undergraduate: Must be enrolled as a full-time student in a bachelor’s degree program from an accredited institution.
- Post Undergraduate: Earned a bachelor’s degree within the past 12 months. Eligible for an internship period of up to one year.
- Graduate: Must be enrolled as a full-time student in a master’s degree program from an accredited institution.
- Post Graduate: Earned a master’s degree within the past 12 months. Eligible for an internship period of up to one year.
- Graduate + PhD: Completed master’s degree and enrolled as PhD student from an accredited institution.
Additional Required Qualifications
- Must have completed a bachelor’s degree and either: be enrolled in or recently graduated from a master’s degree or currently enrolled in a PhD program in fields such as: Geography/GIS, Environmental Science, Computer Science, Engineering, or a related technical field
- To be considered, all candidates must include in their resume and an online code repository such as GitHub with several publicly visible coding projects. Alternatively, please explain in your cover letter why your application does not include a code repository and/or several examples of previous projects
- Demonstrated experience working independently with programming skills in python and libraries such as geopandas, numpy, scipy, shapely, pyproj
- Proficiency and experience with geospatial analysis and modeling techniques using open-source tools, such as QGIS; (please note that ESRI tools are not used in this research group)
- Experience working with geographic transformations and projections
- Ability to work within a dynamically evolving digital environment as a member of collaborative and often-dispersed team
- Critical thinking skills; analytic and research skills; written and verbal communication skills
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience with linux/unix
- Experience with collaborative code development
- Experience with Machine Learning
- Experience with the Geospatial data abstraction library (GADL)
- Experience with big geospatial data processing
Requirements
- Minimum of a 3.0 cumulative grade point average
- Must be enrolled as a full-time student in a bachelor’s degree program from an accredited institution
- Earned a bachelor’s degree within the past 12 months
- Must be enrolled as a full-time student in a master’s degree program from an accredited institution
- Earned a master’s degree within the past 12 months
- Completed master’s degree and enrolled as PhD student from an accredited institution
- Must have completed a bachelor’s degree and either: be enrolled in or recently graduated from a master’s degree or currently enrolled in a PhD program in fields such as: Geography/GIS, Environmental Science, Computer Science, Engineering, or a related technical field
- Must include in resume and an online code repository such as GitHub with several publicly visible coding projects
- Demonstrated experience working independently with programming skills in python and libraries such as geopandas, numpy, scipy, shapely, pyproj
- Proficiency and experience with geospatial analysis and modeling techniques using open-source tools, such as QGIS
- Experience working with geographic transformations and projections
- Ability to work within a dynamically evolving digital environment as a member of collaborative and often-dispersed team
- Critical thinking skills; analytic and research skills; written and verbal communication skills
- Experience with linux/unix
- Experience with collaborative code development
- Experience with Machine Learning
- Experience with the Geospatial data abstraction library (GADL)
- Experience with big geospatial data processing
Benefits
- Medical, Dental & Vision
- 403(b) Savings Plan
- Employer Match
- Sick Leave
- Performance Awards
- Merit Awards
- Achievement Awards
- Relocation Reimbursement
Company overview
Ora is the world's leading full-service ophthalmic drug and device development firm, operating as a specialized contract research organization (CRO) focused exclusively on ophthalmology. Founded in 1974 and headquartered in Andover, Massachusetts, the company has over 45 years of experience in advancing eye care innovations globally. Ora provides comprehensive research and development services spanning preclinical studies, clinical trials, regulatory strategy, and product development for both pharmaceutical and medical device companies. With operations across the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, and Asia, the company has helped clients achieve more than 85 product approvals to date. Ora's expertise covers a wide range of ophthalmic conditions including allergy, dry eye, retina diseases, glaucoma, and anti-infective therapies. The company employs over 500 ophthalmology specialists who utilize proprietary clinical models, integrated data solutions, and global regulatory strategies to accelerate product development from concept to market. Ora serves a diverse client base ranging from startups to global pharmaceutical and device companies, positioning itself as the trusted partner for ophthalmic innovation worldwide.