Internship – Global River Model Research

Join Our Mission to Clean the World's Oceans

In our mission to rid the world’s oceans of plastic, we rely on a thorough understanding of the ocean plastic pollution problem. The research team at The Ocean Cleanup aims to refine our understanding of the sources, transport, and fate of ocean plastics. An important aspect of our research is understanding and mapping the input of plastic into the ocean via rivers. The output of this model is directly used by our River team to identify new locations and to assess efficiency for existing Interceptor deployments.

You will be responsible for the quality of spatial files that are crucial for the performance of the model as well as for a protocol to streamline the quality check of resulting datasets. Your work will elevate the quality of results and the shape in which they are communicated between parties. Being able to structure and document the analysis of large files is a crucial part of this internship, and the success of this project relies on being thorough and consistent.

“Our global river model is at the intersection of academic outreach and providing data for internal decision making. By contributing to its quality, you are taking part in two important goals of this organization: expanding our knowledge and reducing the extent of plastic pollution.”
Ronja Ebner, River data scientist & modeler.

Responsibilities

You will be responsible for the improvement of a geospatial dataset, as well as for creating a workflow to check the quality of data. The former is used to improve our model results, and the latter ensures that the quality of data that is transferred between teams can be trusted.

• Removing artifacts from shp files
• Identifying missing components
• Identifying suitable sources to complete existing datasets
• Building a workflow and routine to quality check the data
• Documenting the process and the changes made

Professional Qualifications

• Experience with GIS, preferably QGIS
• Experience with large geospatial datasets
• Experience with python, especially (geo)pandas
• Fluent in spoken and written English
• Experience with Windows and Microsoft Office is desired
• Experience with GitHub is beneficial

Personal Qualifications

• Attention for detail
• Ability to work independently
• Curious, creative, and determined to deliver
• Strong written and verbal communication skills
• Intrinsic motivation to work towards our ambitious and meaningful goal

Starting From: September / October

Duration: 6 months