Spatial Data Scientist

1h1 hour ago

UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology

Wallingford, GB · Temporary · £34,405 – £39,694

About this role

Are you an enthusiastic environmental scientist with excellent spatial data skills and an interest in creating national data and digital tools to support nature recovery and sustainable land management? Join our dynamic team to help turn cutting-edge environmental research into high quality data and practical digital tools for decision making in nature-based finance, policy and land management.

You will work closely with earth observation scientists to develop innovative data products from classified high resolution satellite imagery, including national maps for Biodiversity Net Gain, above-ground biomass, urban wildlife habitat and green space. You will map habitat restoration potential across Great Britain using GIS and spatial datasets to guide local and strategic planning.

Play an important role in developing the Farm Health Check, an interactive tool providing farmers with accurate, impartial data on natural capital and environmental risks. Involve integration and analysis of spatial data, extracting summary metrics, and creating intuitive data visualisations to support on-the-ground decision-making, plus stakeholder consultation for co-design.

Work effectively with project teams including internal and external collaborators in a research environment at UKCEH Wallingford. Opportunities to publish data papers in peer-reviewed journals and data products through our Environmental Data Information Centre, with extensive training for technical and professional growth.

Requirements

Advanced skills in GIS and geospatial data analysis
High level of expertise in handling and analysing spatial data in R
Ability to implement interpretable and reusable code to ensure the longevity, maintainability, and adaptability of code across projects
Familiarity with collaborative tools like GitHub
Creation of interactive spatial data visualisations (e.g., Leaflet)
Experience in producing dynamic HTML/PDF reports using tools such as R Markdown or Quarto
Familiarity with UK-extent spatial datasets with a range of sources, formats and resolutions
Good knowledge of key issues in UK sustainable land use, agriculture and nature conservation

Responsibilities

Apply advanced GIS tools to spatial datasets to derive key information and innovative metrics
Create efficient, reproducible workflows to integrate and analyse complex spatial datasets
Develop innovative ways to visualise data in ways that are intuitive for stakeholders
Contribute to the development of decision support tools (Farm Health Check) and data products (Habitat Potential Maps)
Work effectively with project teams that include internal and external collaborators
Communicate research to a range of audiences, including project partners and stakeholders