R&D Environmental Sensing, UAV & Data Analytics Intern

Join Vylor—Powering the Future of Agriculture

At Vylor, we’re advancing agriculture through breakthrough science—combining elite germplasm, cutting-edge biotech, and next-generation expertise in gene editing and molecular breeding. Our portfolio includes trusted industry brands like Pioneer®, Brevant®, and Hoegemeyer®, delivering performance farmers rely on.

Join us to help scale innovation globally and shape what’s next in crop science.

Vylor is seeking a highly motivated 6-month R&D Environmental Sensing, UAV & Data Analytics Intern to join our team at the Johnston, Iowa Global Campus. This role sits at the intersection of environmental physics, unmanned aerial systems (UAS), Internet of Things (IoT) technologies, and data science. The position provides a unique, hands‑on opportunity to evaluate cutting‑edge environmental data streams, operate advanced remote sensing payloads, and explore how novel field sensors impact plant breeding, crop health, and predictive crop modeling.

The successful candidate will work in both laboratory and field environments, deploying advanced sensors and developing data pipelines to ensure high‑fidelity environmental data is available for downstream agronomic modeling.

Key Responsibilities

• UAV & Thermal Remote Sensing Operations: Plan, coordinate, and execute UAV flights to capture high‑resolution thermal and multispectral imagery. Manage the end‑to‑end photogrammetric and thermal calibration processing workflows to translate raw aerial imagery into actionable crop water‑use and stress analytics.

• Novel Soil Moisture & Environmental Sensor Evaluation: Help investigate, deploy, and benchmark next‑generation soil moisture sensing technologies, exploring novel methods such as cosmic ray neutron sensing (CRNS), ground‑or satellite‑based radar, and IoT‑enabled environmental probes.

• Data Quality Control & Pipeline Automation: Develop and implement automated data quality control (QC) scripts using Python or R to ingest raw sensor data, identify sensor drift, flag outliers, and handle transmission gaps across various field sites.

• Hardware Troubleshooting & Calibration: Assemble, calibrate, test, and troubleshoot field‑sensing equipment and environmental stations. Optimize station siting, evaluate sensor performance, and perform routine maintenance to ensure data integrity.

• Geospatial & Statistical Analysis: Utilize GIS and remote sensing tools (e.g., QGIS, ArcGIS, or Google Earth Engine) to analyze the spatial representativeness of weather stations and integrate geospatial layers with in‑field meteorological observations.

• Cross‑Disciplinary
  
  Collaboration:
  
  Partner with breeders, agronomists, data scientists, and crop modelers to communicate how environmental data quality and spatial variability impact downstream predictive models.

• Dedicated Research Project: Design, execute, and present a dedicated research project focused on UAV thermal imaging analytics or soil moisture sensor network optimization to Vylor R&D leadership.

• Field & Office Flexibility: Willingness to work in a hybrid office/field environment, including occasional day trips to off‑site research locations for equipment inspection, deployment, and UAV flight campaigns.

Qualifications

Required Education & Background

• Education: Currently enrolled as a senior undergraduate, Master's, or PhD student at an accredited university or community college.

• Target Majors: Meteorology, Atmospheric Science, Geospatial Information Science (GIS), Agricultural/Biological Engineering, Environmental Science, Geophysics, or related STEM fields with a strong interest in environmental sensing.

Technical Skills & Experience

• Programming Proficiency: Basic to intermediate proficiency in Python or R, specifically for data manipulation,…