Software Engineering in Data Visualization Intern

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EDF internships provide high-quality experiences (including relevant projects and opportunities for networking) that form the foundation for any individual who is serious about pursuing an environmental career.

Program/Department Overview

MethaneSAT, LLC, an affiliate of Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) has launched a new, high performance, purpose-built satellite—MethaneSAT—to map and measure oil and gas methane emissions worldwide, with the potential to assess emissions from the full range of man-made sources. The satellite will enable us to gather methane emissions data on a global scale and with data from other sources, locate and quantify these emissions.  Data from MethaneSAT will help EDF reduce methane emissions by 45% by 2025 and holds the potential to help reduce the temperature of our planet by as much 0.5 degrees C by the end of the century.  This could be the most impactful environmental project yet conceived.

Overall Function

This intern will collaborate with their host to determine a scope of work that meets both their learning objectives and the project needs. Tasks include requirements gathering, design (creation, presentation, incorporating feedback and driving decision and consensus) as well as coding and deploying final solutions. The intern will be expected to learn and use the same tools (version control, code review, build tools, test suites, programming languages, compute resources, etc) as the software engineering team.  At the end of their internship the intern will present and/demo their results to the team.

Your project can be customized to your learning objective and will involve software development in technologies such as Typescript and React. You should expect to work with science and adjacent datasets, maintain and design software services, and create and edit tools to enable others on the team. Your host is an experienced software engineer focused on front-end development of the MethaneSAT data portal and is engaged and ready to help support your experience and foster your learning.

Key Responsibilities

Tasks will include but are not limited to:

• Implement solutions to efficiently and accurately display complex geospatial data, for both web and mobile experiences.
• Work with stakeholders on requirements and developing milestones.
• Learn and use industry best practices in software engineering, including a focus on creating high-performance, well-organized and maintainable code.
• Utilize test suites and configure infrastructure to deploy your solution.
• Report on progress and present your final results to the MethaneSAT team as well as the EDF technical community.
• Participates in advancing EDF DEI goals in which people from all backgrounds and experiences feel connected, included, and empowered to address the environmental and organizational challenges in alignment with EDF values.

Qualifications

• Must be enrolled in an accredited undergraduate degree program in majoring in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Information Systems or equivalent.
• Coursework in Data Structures strongly preferred.
• Interest or experience with web-based geospatial rendering.
• Demonstrated ability to independently recommend and determine approaches to completing projects and managing processes.
• Ability to collaborate with colleagues and partners of varied backgrounds and experience.
• Affinity for a fast paced work environment.
• Respect for economic and cultural diversity and ability or experience working with diverse groups of people.
• Interest or experience in the space industry, methane science and policy, or climate change preferred but not required.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills.
• Must be well organized, motivated, and detail-oriented.
• Ability to multi-task, prioritize and meet deadlines.
• Ability to work in a team setting and have the ability to work independently when projects are due.
• Demonstrates self-awareness, cultural competency and inclusivity, and ability to work with colleagues and stakeholders across diverse cultures and backgrounds.

Location

Hybrid out of Washington D.C.; Boston, MA or U.S. Remote. The team is primarily based in the East Coast of the United States.

Term

10 weeks, Summer 2024

Hours

Full-Time, 35 hours per week

Compensation

This internship would involve compensation for work paid at a rate competitive with leading non-profits at $17/hr. 

Application Materials

Interested applicants should attach their cover letter and resume to the EDF application.