LAKEWATCH Data Manager - University of Florida / Florida LAKEWATCH
Join one of the nation’s largest volunteer science programs as our new Data Manager! Help steward 30+ years of water quality data from over 800 ecosystems, support volunteer-driven science, and make a real impact on Florida’s aquatic environments. If you're passionate about data, water, and community science, this is your chance to dive in with Florida LAKEWATCH!
Apply here: https://explore.jobs.ufl.edu/en-us/job/537748/data-management-analyst-i by November 18!
Questions? Feel free to reach out to program director, Gretchen Lescord: lescord.g@ufl.edu, (352) 846-6313.
The primary responsibility of this position is to manage the data curation, preservation, and usage related to the University of Florida’s LAKEWATCH program. LAKEWATCH is a water quality monitoring program that facilitates "hands-on" participation by community volunteers in the management of Florida lakes, estuaries, rivers, and springs through monthly sampling activities. It is one of the largest community science programs in the country, with over 1800 trained volunteers, 800 monitored ecosystems, and 30 years of water quality data. In 1991, the Florida Legislature recognized the importance of the program and established Florida LAKEWATCH in the state statutes (Florida Statute 1004.49); therefore, the integrity, preservation, and distribution of the programmatic data are of the utmost importance. More information can be found at: https://lakewatch.ifas.ufl.edu/.
The Data Manager will maintain, design, create, modify, and/or monitor databases related to the LAKEWATCH program. The main data type to be managed is analytical: water chemistry measurements (i.e., total nitrogen, total phosphorus, conductivity, chlorophyll a, and color), collected monthly by volunteers from aquatic ecosystems across the state of Florida.
The Database Manager will be responsible for sharing these data with numerous stakeholders, including Florida’s Department of Environmental Protection, and facilitating their use in research, teaching, and extension activities at the University of Florida.
The Database Manager will also provide expertise on statistical approaches and methods for LAKEWATCH research activities, and support statistical software (e.g., R programming language and R Studio/R Markdown interfaces) use by affiliated staff and students. Additional activities may also include updating the LAKEWATCH webpage and designing new interfaces for volunteer engagement with the program, in collaboration with other LAKEWATCH team members.