Staff Data Scientist - Wildfire

Overstory; San Diego (CA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 220,000; Full time

Job summary

Overstory is seeking a Staff Data Scientist, Wildfire to lead the scientific foundation of the Fuel Detection Model, translating satellite and environmental data into wildfire risk insights. You’ll define accuracy, validate methods, and ensure fire science grounding across engineering and product teams.

You will collaborate with ML engineers and researchers to advance open scientific questions with real-world impact, mentoring others while shaping how utilities prevent catastrophic wildfires.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of applied research or data science experience in wildfire science, fire ecology, forestry, remote sensing, atmospheric science, or related field.
• Deep expertise in remote sensing and geospatial analysis with satellite imagery and large environmental datasets.
• Strong Python ML skills with GeoPandas, scikit-learn, PyTorch or XGBoost.
• Experience designing validation studies and evaluation frameworks for geospatial models.
• Excellent communication to explain complex science to technical and non-technical audiences.

Responsibilities

• Lead research into estimating vegetation structure, fuel conditions, and wildfire risk from satellite, LiDAR, and environmental data across geographies.
• Design rigorous validation methodologies, ground-truth strategies, uncertainty quantification, and error analysis tied to real-world impact.
• Prototype and refine ML modeling approaches, partnering with ML engineers to productionize them.
• Integrate established fire science with data-driven methods.
• Define scientific standards for experimentation, reproducibility, and model interpretability.
• Communicate findings clearly to engineers, product teams, customers, and wildfire science community.
• Mentor ML engineers on scientific methodology and domain reasoning.

Skills

Remote sensing

Geospatial analysis

Python

Machine learning

Communication

Tools

GeoPandas

scikit-learn

PyTorch

XGBoost

Job description

Role & Team

We are excited to add a Staff Data Scientist, Wildfire to our team. This individual will lead the scientific foundation of our Fuel Detection Model, the core engine that translates satellite and environmental data into an understanding of vegetation structure, fuel loads, and wildfire risk. Working alongside ML engineers, and a product team, you'll define accuracy for our models, design the research and validation methods that prove it, and ensure our modeling choices are grounded in fire science and remote sensing fundamentals. This is a great opportunity for someone who is energized by open scientific questions with direct real-world stakes, and who wants their research to shape how utilities prevent catastrophic wildfires.

Time Zone Requirement: North America (NST, AST, EST, CST, MST, PST)

What You'll Do

• Lead research into how vegetation structure, fuel conditions, and wildfire risk can be estimated from satellite, LiDAR, and environmental data across diverse geographies

• Design rigorous validation and evaluation methodologies, including ground-truth strategies, uncertainty quantification, and error analysis tied to real-world impact

• Prototype and refine ML modeling approaches, then partner with ML engineers to translate them into production systems

• Integrate established fire science, such as fuel models and fire behavior frameworks, with data-driven methods

• Define scientific standards for experimentation, reproducibility, and model interpretability across the modeling organization

• Communicate research findings clearly to engineers, product teams, customers, and the broader wildfire science community

• Mentor ML engineers on scientific methodology and domain reasoning

Skills & Experience

• 8+ years of applied research or data science experience in wildfire science, fire ecology, forestry, remote sensing, atmospheric science, or a related quantitative field

• Deep expertise in remote sensing and geospatial analysis, including working with satellite imagery and large-scale environmental datasets

• Strong statistical modeling and machine learning skills in Python, with tools like GeoPandas, scikit-learn, PyTorch, or XGBoost

• Track record of designing validation studies and evaluation frameworks for environmental or geospatial models

• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to make complex scientific work legible across technical and non-technical audience

Nice To Have

• Familiarity with fire behavior or fuels modeling frameworks (e.g., Rothermel-based models, LANDFIRE fuel classifications)

• Experience integrating physics-based models with ML, or with active learning and uncertainty quantification

• Peer-reviewed publications in wildfire science, remote sensing, or environmental modeling

• Familiarity with GCP, Vertex AI, or similar cloud-based platforms

• Experience in remote-first or globally distributed team

Note: We believe that all people are capable of great things. We encourage you to apply even if you do not meet all of the requirements that are listed within this job description.

What We Offer

• Competitive, location-specific compensation and benefits

• Flexible, autonomous and collaborative working environment rooted in trust - we build our work days around our lives, not the other way around

• Home office stipend, co-working and ongoing education budgets

• A company culture that genuinely embodies each of our core values

• To be part of truly mission-driven work that reduces wildfires, protects earth's natural resources and helps solve our climate crisis