Back Satellite Interpretation Researcher

This position will be hybrid which requires 8 days/month in Washington DC office. Existing work authorization is required at the time of application submission. WRI is unable to sponsor any visa work sponsorship for this position. To be eligible for this position in US, you must be a resident of DC, Maryland or Virginia at the start of employment.

About the Program:

WRI’s Food, Land, and Water (F|L|W) Program aims to transform how humanity uses and manages the world’s finite land and freshwater resources to meet the essential needs of all people, halt and reverse nature loss, and achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. The Program pursues four interrelated goals necessary to achieve this transformation: (1) sustainably produce food and fiber from existing production areas, (2) protect remaining forests and other natural ecosystems from conversion and degradation, (3) reduce humanity’s footprint by equitably shifting consumption patterns and lowering food loss and waste, (4) restore degraded areas into healthy and/or productive ecosystems. F|L|W is WRI’s largest Program with a dozen major global initiatives and active strategies led by each of WRI’s country offices.

This position will sit between the Global Restoration Initiative (GRI) and Land & Carbon Lab (LCL) initiatives of FLW. GRI helps catalyze the restoration of forests, farmland and ecosystems, with its goal to help restore ecosystem function, economic productivity, livelihoods and hope. GRI works with governments, grassroots community organizations, entrepreneurs and international partners. Programmatic work centers on ensuring that restoration practitioners have access to technical assistance, financing, enabling policies and robust monitoring systems.

Land & Carbon Lab (LCL) and Global Forest Watch are WRI’s innovation platform for geospatial data and monitoring of the world's land and its nature-based carbon. Land is a finite resource under growing pressure. LCL’s mission is to build and deploy geospatial solutions that help governments, businesses, and communities worldwide achieve sustainability in the land sector. LCL works by connecting those at the frontiers of geospatial innovation with those at the frontlines of land use decision-making.

Job Highlight:

Reporting to the Director, Forests Team, you will integrate equity into your work. You will work with a research team of more than 20 experts in GIS and remote sensing to develop monitoring data and applications that support a variety of use cases focused on restoration tracking and conservation at different scales. You will focus on building the most accurate, comprehensive and useful maps possible by combining your global domain expertise in geography and remote sensing with experimental technologies such as foundation models for Earth Observation. You will be supported by and work closely with others on our multi-disciplinary research team.

What will you do:

Research and Analysis (90%):

• Develop data analysis chains and data storage strategies to ensure Landsat and/or Sentinel data can be stored, manipulated and analyzed in the cloud on global scale in cooperation with WRI’s Data Lab and partner organizations such as University of Maryland and OpenGeoHub
• Work with the Restoration (GRI) team to improve and/or develop project restoration monitoring from satellite and other data
• Develop high quality annual time series data useful to track restoration and conservation on different scales from project to landscape to national and beyond
• Perform accuracy assessments and validation on various map products using established good practice methods including by sampling and visual interpreting Landsat and/or other higher resolution satellite data
• Work with University of Maryland researchers where needed
• Develop with colleagues new computing capabilities for remote sensing and image processing that combine pixel extraction and feature extraction to advance tree detection and tree height change
• Support colleagues in conducting original geospatial research, including quantitative geospatial analysis
• Support production of written and graphic content for peer-reviewed research publications, internal briefs, blogs, presentations, press releases, etc
• Support editing, peer review, and production process to publish research and communication outputs
• Present research results at internal and external meetings, conferences and workshops

  Program Development and Administration (10%):

  📚 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝗚𝗲𝘁 𝗮 𝗝𝗼𝗯 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗨𝗡 𝗶𝗻 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟯! 🌍🤝 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗡𝗘𝗪 𝗥𝗲𝗰𝗿𝘂𝗶𝘁𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗚𝘂𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗨𝗡 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟯 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝘀𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗨𝗡𝗛𝗖𝗥, 𝗪𝗙𝗣, 𝗨𝗡𝗜𝗖𝗘𝗙, 𝗨𝗡𝗗𝗦𝗦, 𝗨𝗡𝗙𝗣𝗔, 𝗜𝗢𝗠 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝘀! 🌐

  ⚠️ 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐋𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐍𝐨𝐰: 𝐏𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐓𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐧𝐢𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐚 𝐣𝐨𝐛 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐔𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐍𝐎𝐖!

  • Carry out training and capacity building. Work with countries or stakeholder groups to explain and present the data we are developing
  • Contribute to concept notes, funding proposals, and donor reports

    What will you need:

    • Education: You have completed a master’s degree (or higher) in Remote-Sensing, Geography, or related area. Relevant work experience in lieu of degree is accepted
    • Experience: You have minimum of 12 years of relevant full-time work experience
    • Knowledge of remote sensing, photo interpretation, and earth observation technologies and methods, statistics and spatial statistics, sampling design
    • Experience working with cross-functional and heavily matrixed teams
    • Brings a collaborative attitude to achieving research outcomes, comfortable with leading and participating in constructive discussions with internal and external research partners
    • Excellent quantitative research and writing skills
    • Proficient in building, applying and testing machine learning models using Earth Observation imagery
    • Experience with Google Earth Engine, Python, C++ and other coding languages
    • Languages: Verbal and written English proficiency. Others would be advantageous
    • Requirements: Existing work authorization is required where this position. WRI is unable to authorize visa work authorization

      Potential Salary: Salary range is between 138,000 and 166,000 USD. Salary is commensurate with experience and other compensable factors. WRI offers a competitive renumeration and benefits package.

      How to Apply: Please submit a resume with cover letter by the date of January 23, 2025. We may close for applications sooner if we receive a high volume of qualified applications.

      We are unable to consider your application without a cover letter.

      You must apply through the WRI Careers portal to be considered.

      What we offer:

      • Access to the WRI global network with the opportunity to exchange with and learn from passionate colleagues working at the cutting edge of their fields across Asia, Africa, Europe, Latin America and the US
      • The chance to have an impact and to develop your career within a mission driven organization with access to varied learning and training opportunities
      • A workplace that strives to put diversity and inclusion at the heart of our work
      • The opportunity to join and get involved in different working groups and affinity groups to shape the future of WRI
      • Commitment to hybrid working model with flexible working hours
      • Generous leave days that increase with tenure
      • For US location: Medical Coverage, Dental Coverage, Vision Coverage, retirement plan access and employer contribution