Earth Science & Geology Expert

AfterQuery; South Africa; Remote; ZAR 1,361,000 - 2,495,000; Full time

Job summary

AfterQuery is hiring geologists and earth scientists as contractors to author and grade geoscience and climate scenarios used in frontier AI evaluations. You will write reference answers with geological reasoning and assess model outputs for physical accuracy and uncertainty, flagging explanations that read fluent but misrepresent earth science.

Remote and async work with at least 10 hours per week; compensation is hourly and paid weekly.

Qualifications

• Advanced degree in geology, earth science, or a closely related field.
• 2+ years of research, industry, or field experience in the geosciences.
• Depth in an area such as sedimentology, hydrology, geophysics, or climate science.
• Clear written English for documenting scientific reasoning.
• Able to commit at least 10 hours per week.

Responsibilities

• Author realistic geoscience scenarios from field observation through interpretation
• Write reference answers with the geological reasoning behind each interpretation
• Grade model output on geoscience and climate questions for physical accuracy
• Flag explanations that read fluent but get the earth science wrong

Education

Advanced degree in geology, earth science, or a closely related field

2+ years of research, industry, or field experience in the geosciences

Tools

GIS

Remote sensing

Geospatial modeling

Job description

Geologists and earth scientists to build the geoscience and climate scenarios frontier AI labs use to test model judgment. AfterQuery builds the expert evaluation data that frontier AI labs use to measure and improve their models. We're hiring geologists and earth scientists as contractors to author and grade the geoscience and climate scenarios those evaluations run on. What you'll actually do

Author realistic geoscience scenarios from field observation through interpretation, the kind a working geologist actually reasons through. Write reference answers with the geological reasoning behind each interpretation, processes and timescales weighed. Grade model output on geoscience and climate questions for physical accuracy and appropriate uncertainty. Flag explanations that read fluent but get the earth science wrong, the misses only a trained geoscientist would catch.

Who this is for

Geologists and earth scientists with an advanced degree or equivalent professional experience. Researchers, industry geologists, and consultants across sedimentology, hydrology, geophysics, volcanology, and climate science. Scientists who reason from process and evidence, whether the data comes from an outcrop, a core, or a model. People with strong written English who can turn scientific judgment into clear, teachable reasoning.

Contract and pay

$60 to $110/hr, paid weekly via Stripe. Your rate is set from your experience, not negotiated down after you start. Remote and async: fully remote, fully async. No fixed hours. Minimum 10 hours per week, no maximum. Scale up or down week to week. No screen recording, no keystroke monitoring, no idle timers. Independent contractor. Ongoing project work rather than single task batches.

About AfterQuery

AfterQuery is an expert data lab. We build the evaluation and training data that frontier AI labs use to measure what their models can and can't do in real professional work. Our contributors are practicing professionals, not annotators, and the work is credited, reviewed, and paid at professional rates.

Responsibilities

• Author realistic geoscience scenarios from field observation through interpretation
• Write reference answers with the geological reasoning behind each interpretation
• Grade model output on geoscience and climate questions for physical accuracy
• Flag explanations that read fluent but get the earth science wrong

Required Qualifications

• Advanced degree in geology, earth science, or a closely related field
• 2+ years of research, industry, or field experience in the geosciences
• Depth in an area such as sedimentology, hydrology, geophysics, or climate science
• Clear written English for documenting scientific reasoning
• Able to commit at least 10 hours per week

Preferred Qualifications

• PhD or professional geologist licensure
• GIS, remote sensing, or geospatial modeling skills
• Energy, mining, environmental consulting, or government survey experience

Why apply

• Work stays in your specialty, judged on scientific judgment rather than output volume
• Set your own hours and scale up or down week to week
• Weekly pay via Stripe at a rate set from your experience
• Your judgment shapes how the next generation of AI handles earth and climate science