GIS Data Management Steward – Indiana Dunes National Park
Listed on 2026-07-23
-
Science
Environmental Science, Information & Knowledge Management
Description
Position Title: GIS Data Management Steward – Ameri Corps
Conservation Legacy Program: Stewards Individual Placements
Site
Location:
Indiana Dunes National Park, 1100 N. Mineral Springs Road, Porter IN 46304
Application Due: July 3, 2026 OR once 50 applications received
Terms of Service:
- Start Date: 10/5/2026
- End Date: 3/19/2027
- Ameri Corps Slot Classification: 675 Hours
Purpose:
Stewards Individual Placements (Stewards), a program of Conservation Legacy, provides individuals with Ameri Corps service and career internship opportunities to strengthen communities and preserve our natural resources. Participants serve with federal agencies, tribal governments, and nonprofits to provide institutional capacity, develop community relationships, and support ecosystem health. Stewards in partnership with the NPS GIS office is hosting a cohort of GIS stewards.
Indiana Dunes National Park is located at the southern tip of Lake Michigan approximately 50 miles southeast of Chicago, Illinois. At 15,000 acres, the park contains 15 miles of shoreline and over 50 miles of trails. Small towns, lakefront communities, natural areas, farms and industry surround the park. An abundance of cultural and recreational activities are available year-round. The area has weather typical of the Midwest, with temperatures normally ranging from 0 degrees in the winter to 90 degrees in the summer.
The park is a hotspot where a rich mosaic of habitats are home to over 1,100 native plant species.
Indiana Dunes National Park (INDU) has one of the most varied landscapes in the country, despite decades of fragmentation and disturbance. To protect and restore this unique place, the park’s natural resource management team has a robust ecological restoration program and has been recording restoration actions in GIS for over 20 years. We are seeking a GIS Steward to join our team in Northwest Indiana to provide crucial data management support.
The Steward’s service will improve existing, and develop new, geographic information systems (GIS) and database management systems used to document and inform future land management efforts at INDU and throughout the Great Lakes Watershed.
Multiple parks and park partners throughout the Great Lakes Basin are involved in a GLRI (Great Lakes Restoration Initiative) funded pollinator habitat restoration project. The Steward will develop methodologies and a more standardized approach to gathering, analyzing, managing, and sharing data to facilitate data tracking and final GLRI reporting of GIS data from multiple partners and parks. The applicant should be prepared and willing to develop and communicate a workflow model and best practices for data collection and management as a product of this project.
The Steward will also develop a GIS-based photo monitoring program to record long-term change of restoration areas. Existing photo point locations and related images will be georeferenced and integrated to improve data access.
There will be an opportunity to utilize existing GIS data and images to develop outreach and educational material to share restoration success stories with the public through tools like ArcGIS Story Maps.
This position will enhance the incumbent’s proficiency in key NPS GIS Competencies, including Coordination and Communication, Critical Thinking and Problem Solving, Technology Application, and Data Management and Metadata.
Limited field service may include visiting restoration sites in and outside of the park for project orientation purposes and to assist partners in recording spatial location of restoration efforts. Opportunities will also be available to contribute to other GIS projects as they arise.
Description of Duties:
Duties of the GIS Steward position include, but are not limited to the following:
- Design geodatabase for the GLRI funded Pollinator Restoration Dataset
- Integrate existing Pollinator Restoration geospatial data into newly developed geodatabase
- Design spatially referenced photo monitoring data management system and integrate existing data into system
- Ensure compatibility of existing geospatial data in existing datasets
- Data Workflow Development. Develop and document…
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