Intern, Computational Social Science, Global Restoration Initiative

Nov 14, 2020 | World Resources Institute
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World Resources Institute (WRI) is an independent, nonprofit global research organization that turns big ideas into action at the nexus of environment, economic opportunity and human well-being. We are working to address six critical challenges that the world must overcome this decade in order to secure a sustainable future for people and the planet: climate change, energy, food, forests, water and sustainable cities.

Internships at WRI provide opportunities for motivated, young professionals to learn from our experts and participate in engaging work at the intersection of environment and development. WRI provides many internship opportunities throughout the year in all our programs and offices. We seek interns with diverse backgrounds and who are passionate about the environment to help us make a direct global impact.

WRI is committed to advancing gender, racial, and social equity for human well-being in our mission and applies this principle to our organizational and programmatic practices.

Internship Summary

The year 2021 will usher in the UN Decade of Ecosystem Restoration. The next 10 years will be instrumental in creating the opportunity for Nature Based Solutions to help adaptation and mitigation for climate change, to support food and water security, biodiversity conservation as well as support livelihoods.  Much emphasis has been placed on monitoring biophysical changes through satellite data, seeing the trees regenerate across landscapes. Little attention, however, has been paid to the impacts that restoration is having on people. Computational Social Science offers a wealth of methods for charting social progress. The Global Restoration Initiative is developing a series of prototypes using a series of computational social science methods. These include using Natural Language Processing to understand policy incentives, land rights and climate hazards. We are experimenting with satellites, census and Open Street Map data to map well-being, as well as using media mining to understand land conflict.

In this role, you will support external partnerships and assist in validating proposed approaches. You will support the documentation of methodologies, literature reviews and writing of peer reviewed journal articles. In addition, you will help manage and support large groups of data analysts and identify opportunities for scaling and limitations in methodological approaches.

Learning Outcomes

  • Support data science partnerships and assist in verifying proposed methodologies
  • Assist in the design and development of natural language processing approaches for a variety of use cases
  • Create and deliver presentations and webinars explaining computational social science approaches to a variety of technical and non-technical audiences
  • Promote a culture of teamwork that balances individual accomplishments and projects with broader team goals and deliverables
  • Co-author peer reviewed journal articles
  • Work with large teams of data analysts on innovation sprints

Internship Qualifications

  • Experience with natural language processing APIs in Python
  • Experience with extract transfer load (ETL) protocols for unstructured data, including data cleaning, feature engineering, and exploratory data analysis (EDA)
  • Understanding of statistical applications to big data
  • Interest in analytic applications in global environmental change
  • Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Data Science, Statistics, Information Science, or a related field
  • Experience with GitHub
  • Critical understanding of limitations of computational social science approaches
  • Strong research skills
  • Ability to communicate complex insights in a clear and precise manner

Desirable Qualifications

  • Knowledge of Spanish, Portuguese, French, Bahasa or other languages
  • Knowledge of Forest & Landscape Restoration implementation, environmental science or international development
  • Master’s degree in Data Science (not required)

General Internship Requirements

Applicants must have personal health insurance coverage. 

US work authorization is required for this opportunity. WRI does not sponsor interns for visas.

Duration and Location

  • This is a full-time, four-month internship with flexible start and end dates based on the student’s availability and need for the project.
  • Some meetings are between 9am-5pm EST, however, there is flexibility regarding working hours.
  • This is a remote-based internship with the option to work out of the Washington D.C. office once it reopens.
  • WRI will provide a laptop for the duration of your internship.

How to Apply

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