Research Specialist ; Applications Developer

Research Specialist I (Applications Developer)

Job Title: Research Specialist I (Applications Developer)

Agency: Prairie View A&M University

Department: Adloc Cooperative Agriculture And Research Center

Proposed Minimum Salary: Commensurate

Job Location: Prairie View, Texas

Job Type: Staff

Job Description:

This position will plan, design, develop, and maintain applications and tools that advance NRES research and public engagement. The specialist will support interdisciplinary projects on water risk, weather extremes, precision agriculture, and natural resources by creating and maintaining high-quality data pipelines, reproducible analyses, and decision‑support tools. The role includes maintaining existing NRES applications (such as Irrig Wise, Irrig Wise‑PRISM, Weather And Soil , and IWET), developing new web‑based tools, integrating various datasets (including sensor and remote sensing data), and applying AI and advanced analytics.

The incumbent will collaborate closely with system members and stakeholders to deliver functional, user‑friendly, and innovative solutions that support the mission of CAFNR and NRES.

This position is funded by restricted funds or a grant. Continued employment is contingent upon the renewal of restricted or grant funds.

The salary is determined in accordance with the University's compensation structure and will be commensurate with the candidates' education and experience, within the assigned salary range for this position.

• Maintain, enhance, and troubleshoot NRES‑developed applications (e.g., Irrig Wise, Irrig Wise‑PRISM, Weather And Soil , IWET) to ensure continued functionality, usability, and performance.
• Design and develop new applications and tools for NRES‑related data processing, visualization, and management.
• Integrate data from various sources and databases (e.g., environmental sensors, weather/climate data, remote sensing, research datasets).
• Apply AI and advanced analytics techniques, including image analytics (classification, object detection, vegetation indices) and geospatial analysis (GIS), to support NRES research and decision‑making.
• Deploy and manage sensors in laboratory and field experiments (e.g., rain/flow, soil moisture, water quality sensors).
• Support UAV flights, GNSS/RTK use, and ground‑truth sampling to generate high‑quality datasets for NRES projects.
• Develop user support resources, including user manuals, guides, and in‑application help content.
• Provide training, troubleshooting, and technical support to faculty, staff, students, and external partners using NRES applications and tools.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

• Minimum of a bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Management Information Systems, Computer Engineering, Informatics, or a closely related field.
• Four or more years of programming experience with solid knowledge of current programming languages and methodologies.

• Strong analytical and critical thinking skills, with demonstrated ability to solve complex technical problems and work independently as well as in teams.
• Proficiency in one or more of the following programming languages: C, C++, JavaScript, Visual .NET, Java, R, Python.
• Strong background in working with large datasets and data‑intensive applications.
• Familiarity with multiple operating systems and platforms, including Windows, Linux, and Mac environments.
• Effective oral and written communication skills and the ability to collaborate with interdisciplinary research teams and non‑technical stakeholders.

• Experience working in a higher education or research environment.
• Experience with machine learning, web applications, and tool development, particularly in environmental, agricultural, or natural resources contexts.
• Experience designing and implementing workflows for environmental data analytics (Python/R), remote sensing (UAV/satellite), and machine learning for image classification/segmentation.
• Experience installing and maintaining environmental sensors (rain/flow, soil moisture, water quality), conducting UAV flights, utilizing GNSS/RTK, and…