About this role
APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS:
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Approval of remote and hybrid work is not guaranteed regardless of work location. For additional information on remote work at Penn State, see Notice to Out of State Applicants.
JOB DESCRIPTION AND POSITION REQUIREMENTS
The Department of Geoscience is looking for a qualified candidate for an undergraduate research assistant position.
Drought is one of the most economically and socially impactful natural hazards, affecting agriculture, water resources, energy systems, ecosystems, and human well being. While many droughts develop gradually over months or years, some emerge much more rapidly. Flash droughts are a type of drought that can intensify within weeks, often leading to significant impacts with little warning. These events remain difficult to study and anticipate because there is no single agreed upon definition or standardized detection approach. In addition, their social, economic, and environmental impacts are not well documented, which limits our ability to assess risk and improve preparedness and response.
This research project aims to bridge that gap by combining climate science with machine learning and text analysis. Our team has compiled a unique dataset of approximately 120,000 news articles that reference drought across the United States. These articles contain rich but underused information about how droughts affect agriculture, water resources, ecosystems, and communities. The goal of this project is to help build the first public database focused specifically on flash drought impacts, linking physical climate processes with real world consequences.
The undergraduate research assistant will play a central role in this effort. The position involves manually labeling selected sentences from news articles by identifying the type of impact being described, such as effects on agriculture, urban water supply, energy production or ecosystems. These labeled examples are essential for training a machine learning model to recognize and classify impacts automatically across thousands of articles. Through this work, the student will gain hands on experience with applied climate research, data annotation, and the foundations of artificial intelligence used in environmental science.
Desired skills and interests
Applicants should demonstrate interest or experience in the following areas.
- Strong reading comprehension and attention to detail, with the ability to carefully interpret short text passages and identify relevant information.
- Interest in climate science, environmental studies, data science, or related fields.
- Curiosity about data analysis, machine learning, or artificial intelligence, prior coding experience is welcome but not required.
How to apply
Interested students should submit the following materials.
- A brief statement, no more than 300 words, answering the question:
How does your previous experience and interests align with the job skills and requirements described above? - Current CV or resume.
This position is ideal for students who are interested in climate impacts, interdisciplinary research, and learning how data driven and machine learning approaches can be applied to real world environmental challenges.
Approx number of hours per week
5 hours per week for 8 weeks
Salary per hour, and max allowance (if any).
$20 per hour.
Start and end date (again approximate is fine)
February 9 to April 30
BACKGROUND CHECKS/CLEARANCES
Employment with the University will require successful completion of background check(s) in accordance with University policies.
CAMPUS SECURITY CRIME STATISTICS
Pursuant to the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act and the Pennsylvania Act of 1988, Penn State publishes a combined Annual Security and Annual Fire Safety Report (ASR). The ASR includes crime statistics and institutional policies concerning campus security, such as those concerning alcohol and drug use, crime prevention, the reporting of crimes, sexual assault, and other matters. The ASR is available for review here.
EEO IS THE LAW
Penn State is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to providing employment opportunities to all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or protected veteran status. If you are unable to use our online application process due to an impairment or disability, please contact 814-865-1473.
Other facts
About Penn State University
The Applied Research Laboratory at Penn State University is an integral part of one of the leading research universities in the nation. ARL-Penn State supports national security, economic competitiveness, and quality of life through Education; Scientific discovery; Technology demonstration; and Transition to application. As a designated University Affiliated Research Center (UARC), ARL-Penn State conducts essential research, development, and systems engineering in support of our nations priorities free from conflict of interest or competition with commercial industry.
What you'll do
- The undergraduate research assistant will manually label selected sentences from news articles to identify the type of impact described. This work is essential for training a machine learning model to recognize and classify impacts across thousands of articles.
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