Conservation GIS Analyst

Overview

The Florida Natural Areas Inventory (FNAI) at Florida State University is seeking a spatial conservation analyst with a strong personal interest in supporting conservation in Florida through systematic planning work. Work will involve a wide variety of data analysis and processing including mapping, modeling, and spatial prioritization to guide land acquisition and land management decision making. We invite applications from people of all natural resource backgrounds (planning, biology, forestry, etc.)

who also have strong multi‑platform GIS skills and an analytical mindset. This position will be approved for up to two days per week of remote work.

Our office is off campus in Midtown, which is centrally located near shops, restaurants, and historic neighborhoods. The larger Tallahassee region offers many outdoor recreation opportunities in the nearby Apalachicola National Forest and a number of coastal parks and refuges within a short drive from town.

• Conduct and assist in assessments of spatial conservation priorities for natural resources, particularly biodiversity, natural communities, and landscape integrity. Develop measures and tools to evaluate the success of conservation decisions and actions compared to conservation priorities.
• Prepare reports, presentations, data analysis, and summaries for GIS‑related departmental projects; conduct outreach with entities outside of FNAI for data and information.
• Provide technical expertise and make recommendations in development and application of geospatial analysis, design, database implementation, procedures, and quality assurance/quality control for departmental projects.
• Develop species and ecosystem spatial models using a variety of methods ranging from expert‑driven to machine‑learning algorithms (e.g., Maxent, Random Forest, etc.).
• Develop scripts and tools to facilitate workflow efficiency, data consistency, and reproducible analysis.
• Develop and maintain natural resource‑based GIS layers and conduct spatial analyses for state and regional conservation planning.
• Assist with acquisition, organization, and maintenance of the program’s base GIS data and other databases.
• Provide technical GIS support for FNAI operations; assist with GIS training for staff; assist with GIS software maintenance.
• Develop data dictionaries, data models, and metadata for geospatial applications, including web‑based applications.

• Bachelor’s degree in GIS, Geography, Environmental Science, Biology, Forestry, Urban Planning, or a related field and a minimum of two years of experience or an MS in one of these same fields.
• A strong personal interest in developing a career in conservation.
• Experience with ESRI ArcGIS software.
• Demonstrable experience using at least one scripting language for data analysis and presentation (Python, R, or both).
• Familiarity with the strengths and weaknesses of AI tools for code development.
• Strong digital organization skills and a commitment to reproducible analysis methods.
• Some experience in the use of remote sensing.
• Ability to communicate well in person and in writing.
• Ability to work well with FNAI staff scientists.
• Ability to work independently and meet deadlines.
• Ability to serve as a representative of FNAI and interface well with professional colleagues and the public.

• Some background in statistical analysis.
• Familiarity with geospatial foundation models and their potential conservation applications.
• Experience conducting analysis with Google Earth Engine.
• Familiarity with use of UAVs (drones) and processing UAV collected data.
• Familiarity with databases and SQL.
• Experience in species habitat or distribution modeling.
• Experience with natural community and habitat interpretation from aerial photographs, satellite imagery, and soil surveys.
• Familiarity with Florida’s natural communities, flora, and fauna.
• Familiarity with Florida’s current and recent state conservation and land use planning programs, including land acquisition.
• Awareness of major conservation issues, challenges, and opportunities in Florida.

Certain service members and veterans, and the spouses and family members of such service members and veterans, receive preference and priority. This position requires successful completion of a criminal history background check.