Geological Survey Logo
Position Title
Student Trainee (Physical Science)
Agency
Geological Survey
Announcement Number
USGS-PATH-23-11816555-DE-MW Opens in new window
Open Period
Monday, January 30, 2023 to Monday, February 13, 2023
For preview purposes only. To apply, please return to the USAJOBS announcement and click the Apply button.
Eligibilities
1. Do you claim Veterans’ Preference? (limit characters)
Please mark "YES" to all eligibility options below for which you wish to be considered. We can only verify eligibility options for which you claim and provide proper documentation. Please see the "Required Documents" section of the announcement for specific requirements. (limit characters)
2. Are you currently a student who meets the eligibility requirements described below for a Pathways Temporary Intern appointment?
  • You must be a student accepted for enrollment or enrolled in a degree or certificate program on a full- or half-time basis as defined by the school (certificate program means post-secondary education, in a qualifying educational institution, equivalent to at least one academic year of full-time study that is part of an accredited college-level, technical, trade, vocational, or business school curriculum); and
  • Enrollment is with a qualifying educational institution such as a high school or state-approved home school; or accredited technical or vocational school; a 2- or 4-year college or university; a graduate or professional school (e.g., law school, medical school); or a post-secondary home school curriculum.
  • If currently enrolled, you must be in good academic standing maintaining a 2.0 grade point average on a cumulative basis; and
  • You must continue to meet these eligibility requirements throughout the duration of your appointment under the Pathways Internship Program.
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3. I acknowledge that in order to receive consideration for this position, I must be able to physically report to the duty station location stated in this vacancy announcement and be available to work the schedule identified. Are you able to physically report to the duty station location identified in this vacancy announcement and work the schedule identified? (limit characters)
4. What is your anticipated graduation date (provide the month/year in the space below)? (limit 100 characters)
5. What is your academic major? (limit 250 characters)
6. From the list below, identify the educational institution in which you are enrolled or accepted for enrollment? (limit characters)
Preferences
1. Select the lowest grade you are willing to accept for this position. (limit characters)
Assessment 1
Please select the responses to the questions below that best describes your experience as it relates to this position. (limit characters)
1. GS-03: Choose one answer that best describes your experience and education.
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2. GS-04: Choose one answer that best describes your experience and education.
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Questions 3-23 below give descriptions and points of contact (POC) for the 21 USGS internship projects that are available in 2023. Please rank the projects that interest you and optionally also indicate your top choices in your resume and/or cover letter. (limit characters)
3. Project #1: Collaborate with a multi-disciplinary team to develop web tools that help civil engineers (structural and geotechnical) use forecasts of earthquake ground shaking from the USGS National Seismic Hazard Model. Interest in earthquake engineering and/or computer programming required. (POCs: Nicolas Luco and Andrew Makdisi) (limit characters)
4. Project #2: Work with scientists to support the development of scientific tools for data analysis in loss/risk modeling, earthquake hazard calculations, data analysis/uncertainty propagation, and data access tools. Required skills: MATLAB and Python programming. Desired skills: experience with Git, NumPy, SciPy, Matplotlib, statistical packages, and Tableau. (POC: Kishor Jaiswal) (limit characters)
5. Project #3: Assist with stakeholder and user engagement for more usable, accessible, and equitable hazards products in the Landslide Hazards Program and Earthquake Hazards Program. Projects may include K12 outreach, community engagement, user-centered design, and website content management. Experience with geologic hazards science, science and risk communication, community-based research, and qualitative research methods preferred. Keywords: risk, equity, earthquake information, landslides information, landslides information. (POC: Lisa Wald) (limit characters)
6. Project #4: Work with earthquake scientists and engineers to organize, describe, and archive the many maps and geospatial data that have been derived from the USGS National Seismic Hazard Model, and explore developing new maps. Keywords: earthquake hazard/risk forecasting, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), technical writing. (POC: Ken Rukstales and Nicolas Luco) (limit characters)
7. Project #5: Process earthquake ground motions and analyze seismic waveforms to model site response. Student will carry out seismic data processing and fit theoretical models to ground-motion amplitude spectra. Experience with Python, ObsPy, seismic data processing, and computing within a Linux environment is preferred. Keywords: seismology, earthquakes, data analysis. (POCs: Morgan Moschetti and Steve Hartzell) (limit characters)
8. Project #6: Gaussian Process regressions of earthquake ground-motion data for predictive models of spatial variation in earthquake shaking. Experience in spatial statistics, programming (Python, R, other) preferred. Keywords: geostatistics, earthquakes, statistical model development. (POC: Morgan Moschetti) (limit characters)
9. Project #7: Improve site characterization and site response models for earthquake hazards applications. The student may perform literature reviews, compile data for public databases, and analyze seismic data (inversions for shallow site characterization, ambient seismic noise analyses) to support earthquake ground-motion prediction and hazards applications for multiple regions including Cascadia, California, Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico. Requirements vary by project and include coding experience (Python), database management (e.g., SQL), good communication skills. Keywords: earthquakes, geophysical site characterization, data analysis, statistical modeling, programming. (POC: Sean Ahdi) (limit characters)
10. Project #8: Assist in aggregating earthquake info and processing empirical and simulated ground motion data for multiple end-use cases, including earthquake source analysis, machine learning applications, and ground motion comparisons. Programming skills are a plus (e.g., Python). Keywords: seismology, simulations, earthquakes, ground motions, data analysis, programming. (POC: Kyle Withers) (limit characters)
11. Project #9: Develop Machine Learning (ML) models aimed at improving the National Earthquake Information Center (NEIC) global seismic monitoring system. Topics can include event detection, association, or classifying event characteristics. Experience with python and developing ML models is preferred. Keywords: seismology, earthquakes, monitoring, machine-learning. (POC: William Yeck) (limit characters)
12. Project #10: Explore earthquake-triggered deformation and ground failure using remote sensing products. Familiarity with remote sensing data (e.g., InSAR) and programming (e.g., Python) is a plus. Keywords: Ground Failure, Earthquake Source, Remote Sensing. (POCs: Paula Burgi and Dara Goldberg) (limit characters)
13. Project #11: Assess magnitudes of small earthquakes and compare different magnitude types for these events in order to improve seismic catalogs and associated products (e.g., aftershock forecasts). Candidate may also be involved in magnitude computation and/or developing operational strategies for improving real-time magnitude characterization. Experience processing seismic waveforms and/or other coding for timeseries analysis is preferred. Keywords: seismology, earthquakes, magnitudes, data analysis. (POCs: David Shelly, Will Yeck, and Paul Earle) (limit characters)
14. Project #12: Assist in the data analysis and validation of large, aggregated, scientific, global earthquake data sets spanning decades, different algorithms and approaches, and different sources along with the presentation of the results of the analysis and comparisons. Experience with Python and relational databases is preferred. Keywords: data analysis, data science, seismology, python, programming, earthquakes. (POCs: Michelle Guy and Paul Earle) (limit characters)
15. Project #13: Assist in improving the USGS National Landslide Inventory by: (1) developing content for products that communicate the utility of the inventory to the general public, (2) contributing to efforts to prioritize national landslide mapping by integrating remotely sensed data and other geospatial datasets related to risk. Other tasks may involve compiling and organizing data to be added to the inventory. Familiarity with GIS and remotely sensed data is necessary. Keywords: Landslides, Risk, Remote Sensing, Science Communication. (POCs: Gina Belair and Sabrina Martinez) (limit characters)
16. Project #14: Assist in the development of warning criteria, or "thresholds," which identify the predisposing and triggering conditions for landslide activity in burn areas soon after, and several years following wildfire. Fieldwork opportunities may also be available for candidates who are interested. Experience with Geographic Information Systems and Python is preferred. Keywords: wildfire, landslides, warning. (POCs: Matthew Thomas, Francis Rengers, and Jason Kean) (limit characters)
17. Project #15: Assist with the rapid assessment of large, highly mobile landslides and widespread landslide-triggering events (e.g., earthquakes, hurricanes) for situational awareness, primarily using remote sensing and seismic techniques. This project will involve working with the team to streamline our image processing pipelines, generate templates for maps and reports, and develop static explanatory content for webpages, all of which will enable us to respond more quickly and effectively to events when they occur. Candidates should have experience with GIS, geospatial analysis, and strong scientific writing & communication skills. Remote sensing experience and basic computer programming skills would be beneficial. Keywords: Landslides, Remote Sensing, Seismology, Rapid Response. (POCs: Kate Allstadt and Lauren Schaefer) (limit characters)
18. Project #16: Assist in mapping landslides from historic remote imagery to develop a landslide inventory from past storms for the Federate States of Micronesia. The landslide inventory will then be compared to landslide hazard maps to help improve map accuracy. This work is part of a project funded by the USGS-USAID Landslide Disaster Assistance Team. Familiarity with GIS and remotely sensed data is preferred. Keywords: landslide, imagery, hazards, risk. (POC: Corina Cerovski-Darriau) (limit characters)
19. Project #17: Work with Geographic Information System (GIS) professionals on file and data organization and quality management for geographic set sets. Create data pages for published projects using USGS tools. Background should include basic knowledge of GIS and advanced personal computer skills. Some scripting helpful. Keywords: GIS, data management, scripting. (POCs: Eric Jones and Lynda Lastowka) (limit characters)
20. Project #18: Work with software development team on a variety of projects for the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and/or Geologic Hazards Science Center. Work will be centered on web applications or cloud infrastructure using amazon web services. Most projects will be implementing or modifying operational production systems. Required Skills: GitHub, advanced student level knowledge of at least one programming language (Python, Angular, Javascript). Keywords: Software development, python, cloud, programming. (POC: Lynda Lastowka) (limit characters)
21. Project #19: Work with scientists to support development of scientific software for loss modeling, earthquake hazard calculations, and data access tools. Work will be centered on back-end/desktop applications using mostly Python. Required skills: Python programming, Linux/Mac command line experience. Desired skills: Git, experience with NumPy, SciPy, Matplotlib, and pandas Python libraries. Keywords: Python, hazards, earthquake, signal processing, databases, data processing, software development. (POCs: Mike Hearne and Michelle Guy); (limit characters)
22. Project #20: Work with Web Content Manager in support of USGS Earthquake Hazards Program, Landslide Hazards Program, and Geomagnetism websites. Potential projects include creating webpages for a few significant earthquakes highlighting the information and research, overhauling the earthquake glossary, adding GIS location metadata to webpages, and routine maintenance of the websites. The websites use a Drupal 9 content management system (CMS) platform, and you will take a short online training course to learn the admin interface. Desired skills: background in science, some knowledge of web design and CMS, well-organized, and attention to detail. Keywords: hazards, web content. (POC: Lisa Wald) (limit characters)
23. Project #21: Work with the National Earthquake Information Center (NEIC) and software development teams for maintaining and updating the USGS Slab2 code and models. Slab2 provides three-dimensional models of subducting plate geometries for global subduction zones. The models are commonly used in seismic, geodynamic, and tsunami modeling as well in several USGS hazard products. The primary task is to update the Slab2 web service and back-end cloud infrastructure to allow users to contribute new seismic data for creating new models. Some experience in coding with Python, Javascript, and/or TypeScript, as well as basic geophysical knowledge would be helpful. Keywords: Slab2, geophysics, software development. (POCs: Kirstie Haynie and Lynda Lastowka) (limit characters)
Select “Yes” or “No” to the following question(s). (limit characters)
24. I certify, to the best of my knowledge that all the information in my application is true, and that I have truthfully and accurately represented my work experience, knowledge, skills, abilities and education. I understand that providing false or fraudulent information may be grounds for not hiring me or for firing me after I begin work. I also certify that I have read the entire vacancy announcement; that I have reviewed my answers to the eligibility questions for accuracy; and that I understand what supporting documentation, if any, is required for submission and when it's due.
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