Research Assistant, NSF Methane Cycle (Student)

American University; United States; On-site; USD 21,000 - 30,000; Part time

Job summary

American University is seeking a part-time Research Assistant to support an NSF-funded study on the role of trees in the global methane cycle. You will use R to clean large methane-emission datasets from baldcypress trees, estimate missing values, and analyze temporal and spatial variation to extrapolate forest-scale fluxes.

You will also contribute figures, tables, and manuscript text. The role involves weekly meetings with the PI and team, and the position is available to enrolled AU students.

Qualifications

• Experience using R for data cleaning and visualization.
• Ability to estimate missing values and perform time-series analysis.
• Ability to generate figures, tables and manuscript text.

Responsibilities

• Meet weekly with project team to discuss progress and update goals.
• Clean up data set to remove erroneous points and estimate missing values.
• Create graphs and tables using R to visualize the data.
• Characterize how methane fluxes vary in time and space.
• Use measurements to extrapolate plot- and forest-scale estimates.
• Generate figures, tables, and text for a scientific manuscript.

Skills

R programming

Data analysis

Tools

R Studio

Job description

Job Summary

Summary: The research assistant will assist with data analysis related to an NSF-funded project on understanding the role of trees in the global methane cycle. Specifically, they will use R to clean up a large data set of methane emissions from baldcypress trees, estimate missing values, determine how methane fluxes vary in time and space, and extrapolate point measurements to an entire forest plot. The research assistant will also be involved in creating figures and tables and writing text for a scientific manuscript arising from this research.

Essential Functions

• Meet weekly with Karen Knee and Betty Malloy to discuss progress and update goals.
• Clean up data set to remove points that result from measurement error and estimate missing values.
• Create graphs and tables using R and R studio to visualize the data.
• Use statistical and data analysis methods to characterize how tree gas fluxes vary in time (different months of the year) and space (different trees and height on tree stem).
• Use point measurements to generate plot- and forest-scale gas flux estimates.
• Generate figures, tables, and text for a scientific publication.

Position Type & Expected Hours of Work

Part-time. 5 hours per week.

Salary Range

$18.40 per hour.

Other Details

This position is available only to enrolled American University students. Please note this job announcement is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities, and activities may change at any time with or without notice. American University is an E-Verify employer. Visit https://www.american.edu/hr/ for additional information about American University employment and benefits.

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