GIS Analyst and Cartographer

Description 

The Field Museum seeks a GIS Analyst and Cartographer with South American expertise and a passion for the Andes-Amazon region to produce maps, analyses, and databases that illuminate the diversity of ecosystems, their condition and uses, and the potential for future management. The GIS Analyst will collaborate with a team of biologists and social scientists working in close collaboration with conservation organizations, Iindigenous and campesino peoples, universities and museums, and national and regional governments.

The GIS Analyst will be part of the Andes-Amazon program in the Keller Science Action Center, an interdisciplinary team committed to translating Museum science into action for conservation and improved quality of life. One of the main initiatives of the team is to conduct rapid inventories, which are surveys of remote wilderness areas that provide social and biological information to decision-makers to help establish effective conservation areas. Since launching the program in 1999, the team has completed rapid inventories in 31 different locations—24 of them in the Andes-Amazon region of South America—and provided the Peruvian, Colombian, Bolivian, and Ecuadorian governments with technical support for the creation of 17 new conservation areas.

The GIS Analyst will be based at the Field Museum in Chicago and report to a Senior Conservation Ecologist. The position involves travel to South America, anywhere from 15-30% of the year, with the possibility for field work in remote locations. During the pandemic, the GIS Analyst will work virtually with the team rather than onsite.

This is a one year term position.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Work closely with Action Center staff and partners to incorporate and synthesize geographic and spatial information in their multidisciplinary work on conservation and wellbeing in the Andes-Amazon
• Compile, analyze, and maintain satellite imagery and other GIS data
• Digitize data collected in the field through participatory mapping activities
• Create maps and graphics for a variety of users and products
• Collaborate with partner organizations to gather, apply, and disseminate geospatial data and tools for use in land management and conservation decisions

Qualifications

• Significant experience with Esri platforms and software (e.g., ArcGIS Pro, ArcMap and Spatial Analyst), QGIS, and Adobe software (e.g., Illustrator, Photoshop); knowledge of R statistical packages preferred
• A Bachelor’s or a Master’s degree in geography, anthropology, ecology, biology, data systems or related field
• Demonstrated success making maps for a wide range of audiences
• Proficiency in written and spoken Spanish; fluency in Spanish or additional Portuguese proficiency preferred
• Experience gathering and working with satellite, aerial, and/or drone imagery and technology; image classification experience and working knowledge of eCognition Developer a plus
• Experience publishing and designing online apps and tools on ArcGIS Online a plus
• Ability to work with multidisciplinary and multicultural team