Unidata Technical Summer 2020 Internship
Job Title: Unidata Technical Summer 2020 Internship
Location: Boulder/Broomfield - Colorado
Work Authorization: UCAR/NCAR will not sponsor a work visa (e.g., J-1, H1-B, etc.) for this position.
Application Deadline: This position will be posted until 1/26/2020 or until position is filled.
Where You Will Work:
Located in Boulder, Colorado, Unidata has been providing data, software tools, and support to the Earth system science research and education community for more than 30 years. We develop innovative geoscience software that is used widely in the climate and other earth sciences across the United States and around the world.
Funded primarily by the National Science Foundation (NSF), Unidata is one of the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR)'s Community Programs (UCP). UCP offers a suite of innovative resources, tools, and services for the atmospheric and Earth science community. UCP was created in 1992 to manage a number of unique programs requested by the UCAR community.
What You Will Do: The 2020 Unidata Summer Internship will offer graduate and upper-level undergraduate (completed sophomore year) students an opportunity to work with Unidata software engineers and scientists on projects drawn from a wide variety of areas that overlap atmospheric and computational sciences. Unidata's mission is to support the Earth Science research and education community with innovative data access, analysis, and visualization tools. As an intern, you will use, design, and/or modify existing Unidata software in innovative ways to better support the Unidata Community. A full list of previous internship participants and their projects can be found at: https://www.unidata.ucar.edu/community/internship/
The 2020 program is an 11-week summer position (40 hours / week) running 18 May to 31 July 2020.
Responsibilities:
Research / Scientific Software Development
- Engage in research that builds on Unidata technologies and involves using, designing, and/or modifying existing Unidata software.
Reporting / Seminars
- In addition to working closely with individual developers, you will attend technical staff meetings to report on the status of your project. You'll also have opportunities to update the UPC staff on the progress of your project through informal “brown bag” talks. And you'll also be encouraged to share your progress and experiences at UCAR and Unidata with a larger community by posting to the Unidata developer's blog.
- In the last week of your internship, you will have the opportunity to give a Unidata Community Seminar describing your experience and the outcomes of your summer work.
- Unidata will also arrange for your attendance at the 2021 AMS Annual Meeting Student Conference, allowing you to present your internship work to a wide audience of working scientists and other students. We'll help you get started on your presentation and abstract submission during the summer.
Writing
- The intern will be expected to document their work (for projects that involve writing code, this includes in-code documentation as well as user level documentation). The student will be encouraged to participate in the Unidata Developer’s Blog throughout their summer experience.
What You Need:
Education and Years of Experience:
Required:
- Must be currently enrolled in an undergraduate program as a sophomore, junior, or senior, or enrolled in a graduate level program with a focus on earth science or, if in a related field (e.g., computing or engineering), some earth science coursework preferred.
- For software development projects, coursework in computer science (or relevant experience) with an emphasis in data formats and/or geosciences preferred.
Desired but not required:
- The ideal candidate will have completed the equivalent of two years of college; have some basic research and programming experience and have a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher.
Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:
Required:
- Demonstrated knowledge and skill in the areas of data access, distribution, analysis, and/or visualization.
- Basic knowledge, through coursework, of earth and/or computer science.
- Ability and willingness to learn and use new scientific computing tools and programs.
- Excellent oral and written communication skills.
- Ability to work with a diverse group of peers.
- Ability to work full-time in Boulder, Colorado during the summer program.
- Ability to interact with mentors and peers in a manner that supports collaboration and inquiry.
Desired but not required:
- For software development projects, working knowledge of at least one Version Control tool, preferably Git.
- Experience with geoscience data formats (e.g., netCDF, GRIB, BUFR).
OTHER REQUIREMENTS
- Community and Professional Behavior: Interns are part of a larger community of UCAR and NCAR summer interns. Interns are expected to contribute positively to the UCAR/NCAR community and to conduct themselves in a manner appropriate to a professional environment. Interns are expected to fully participate during normal office hours.
- Unidata interns reside together in paid apartments in Boulder, CO within biking distance of the NCAR Foothills Campus. Unidata interns receive an hourly wage, and travel support if traveling to Boulder for the internship. Unidata interns who may be local to the Boulder area and who are leasing their own housing may receive a pre-determined stipend to assist with leasing costs. Note that housing benefits are considered taxable income.
- The National Science Foundation has undertaken a number of programs with the aim of bringing members of underrepresented groups into science and engineering fields. Even so, NSF notes that the geoscience community is not availing itself of the talents and skills of individuals from underrepresented groups, who make up a large and increasing segment of society. The applicant will need to provide a short response (no more than 250 words) describing how you think you might support and advance equity over the course of your own career.
Applicant Notes:
- Please note that while the position description details both minimum requirements as well as desired skills and experience, we want to remind applicants that you do not need to have all the desired skills and experience to be considered for this role. If you have the passion for the work along with experience in a related field, you are encouraged to apply. We can provide on-the-job training for the rest.
- All newly hired employees are subject to pre-employment screening.
- A Diversity Statement is required for this position once the candidate has reached the interview stage.